Star Fox: Rise of the Ancients
by jon3s115
Summary: Lylat has been at peace for a year now. But, even though it was peaceful, didn't mean everyone else was. The Lombaxs were fighting a war, one that would affect Lylat. After our hero, Ratchet, discovers a plot to attack Lylat from a race called the Yuthans, he and his Lombax brethren must help them. Can this Yuthan race over power our heroes? Slight crossover of R&C and Star Fox.
1. Prologue

_Here it is, the beginning of the crossover. This first part is necessary for those who missed out on some things. _

_Are you ready?_

**Prologue**

After Ratchet finds his long lost friend, Angela, Ratchet and Clank are thrown into a war. Angela Cross, who had been with the thought dead Max Apogee and had saved a grip of Lombaxs, explained that they had been hunted for a while now by these beings called the Paletans. They were the ancient rivals of the Lombaxs. Both lived in peace on Fastoon until the Lombaxs drove them off the planet after the Paletans attacked them. Ratchet knew they needed help and contacted Sasha Phyronix. She granted them access to a large garrison of the Galactic Rangers to assist in this fight. Ratchet made friends with two of the Lombaxs, Neil, who was a doctor, and Dylan, who was an expert sniper. After several attacks on this incredibly advanced enemy, they moved in for the final attack. Located on a planet named Vastoon in the Andromeda Galaxy, the Galactic Federation Army was upgraded with Paletan tech so that they could reach this distant galaxy and have a fighting chance against the strong enemy. Ratchet and the Lombaxs make their way into the palace of Emperor Talon. When they were inside, they were forced to split up and search. The group Ratchet sent found and killed the Commander of the Paletans, Yun, while Ratchet fought the ever so powerful leader of the Paletans, Talon. As Ratchet was on his last breath with no strength, his comrade, Dylan, blew a hole in the side of the palace and killed Talon with single Splitter Rifle to the abdomen. Talon, in his final breaths, revealed to Ratchet that he was allied with an even more powerful race called the Yuthans. Talon, who was devoted to serving them, now asked Ratchet to stop them. He said he must find a man by the name of Ke-. In his final breath, he was unable to finish the name. Ratchet was now put in a new war.

After he learned that the Yuthan race was already moving in on the new galaxy, he knew exactly what had to be done. Returning to the Phoenix after being injured and saved by Dylan his comrade, Ratchet informed Sasha about the new threat. This didn't appeal to everyone. Not only were the Lombaxs tired of running and fighting, but they also had to help this unsuspecting galaxy from the Yuthan threat. The so-called "MIlky Way Galaxy" had coordinates available in the Phoenix's systems, so it was settled that they would go and help this new potential ally.

Ratchet, after being emotionally changed about the Paletan war, had different plans. He didn't want to risk anything anymore. He asked Talwyn, Clank, and Angela to stay behind for fear of them being hurt by this enemy. Of course Talwyn refused to listen. However Ratchet was able to convince her to stay with the others. But, not only did he want them to stay, but also the Rangers. He felt that they had done their job and did not need to continue. Like Talwyn, the three squad leaders refused but were ultimately defeated. Ratchet would travel to the MIlky Way with the Lombaxs and help.

Before all of this happened, before the Lombax war, our heroes in the Milky Way were hard at work.

One year before the Lombax-Paletan war, the heroes of Lylat were hard at work fighting an evil vulpine named Wolf O'Donnell. But, let's go back further.

Kevin Michelson, a native human to the planet Earth, lived an uneasy life. After Fox McCloud, leader of Star Fox, crashed in his backyard, his life changed. Kevin, only aged 16, was given a once in a lifetime opportunity. He accepted Fox's offer and joined the mercenary squadron. Almost instantly did they begin training.

After a year of training, Kevin, now aged 17, was put into his first battle. After word got out that Wolf was in Lylat, General Pepper of the Cornerian army assigned the team to hunt him down. Things did not go as planned. They soon learned that Wolf had an entire army built and was ready to take over Lylat with Andross technology. Kevin Michelson, was ready and felt he could do anything needed. After several near death experiences, Star Fox finally found Wolf's armada hiding place. Kevin entered Wolf's flagship but found Leon Powalski waiting. Kevin fought and killed the cold hearted Lizard and also discovered Wolf's new plan. To get back at the human, Wolf mobilized his troops to move to Earth. Star Fox quickly made their way and warned the planet. Kevin was given command of the United States Air Force while everyone else was given command of the other countries. But, Falco returned from his assigned country, saying that they were frauds and were working for Wolf. Fox, who was already with his squad, received the transmission and planned an attack on them. After landing for re fuel, Fox killed his assigned squad. Krystal and Slippy were also warned and were told to return to America ready. It turned out that only North America and South America were against Wolf and the other countries. After a devastating loss of air forces, the Star Fox team decided to head out and destroy the bases fueling and supplying Wolf's army. After the bases were down, South America pushed back and retook their continent. America also regained their land and was able to prepare an attack. Star Fox was en route to the final base where Wolf was located. But to their surprise, the entire air force available to them was already attacking. Star Fox gave no second thought and attacked. Kevin Michelson snuck his way into the base and located the leader of Wolf's private force, The Marauders. After killing him, Kevin found Wolf alone. The two fought greatly until Kevin was injured. Wolf smashed Kevin's hand and initiated a self destruct of the entire base. With fire and debris falling inside of the room, Kevin was at a loss. Just as Wolf grabbed his pistol, Krystal arrived and threw her staff to Kevin, giving him the advantage. He used the weapon and quickly killed Wolf. During his escape from the base, Kevin was exposed to space and shattered his leg. After jumping into Great Fox, Kevin was nearly killed but survived. Now with a robotic leg and hand, Kevin and Star Fox lived a time of peace.

During this time, Kevin convinced the people of Lylat that he was not a monster and was their hero that served to protect them. On top of that, he met the love of his life, Rose Magnuson, and a new friend, Will Williams.

But even in this peace, something would go awry. After a deadly fight against a psychotic man who claimed to be a Yuthan, Kevin was troubled. The man said that Kevin had intervened and ruined the Yuthan's plan. He also said that he would soon regret what he had done with Wolf.

Now 18, Kevin and Star Fox live in peace. But after the year long Lombax war, they would find more danger. 19 year old Kevin Michelson would also find out exactly what the man had warned him about.

_To be Continued…_

I thought a prologue would be needed to fill in those who didn't read Crossed Paths or Truth Revealed.

Here's a little explanation for the time and age thing: At 16, Kevin was taken in. He trained for a year and is now 17. He fought for a year and is now 18. The Lombax war starts now and Kevins peace starts now. The Lombax war lasted a year (though it didn't seem like it); Kevin is now 19.

Chapter one should be posted next Saturday on November 30th.

Until next time…


	2. Kevin Michelson

_Okay, quick note, this chapter took me about a week and a half to finish and perfect. All chapters will be around a week or two. _

_Welcome to chapter 1 ladies and gentlemen. Rise of the Ancients begins… now. _

_Are you ready?_

**Chapter 1: Kevin Michelson**

Daytime in Corneria. The sunlight from both Solar and Lylat radiates on the peaceful planet; one protected by a group of strong, brave, and cunning mercenaries.

Kevin Michelson, the lone human on the team, has proven himself over so worthy of being on the team and a resident of Lylat. Having natural skills and the personality to match, Kevin shows himself to be a true Hero of Lylat and living life to its fullest.

_5 days before contact_

Kevin awoke with a startle. He had just had another nightmare. Ever since a month ago, when he was given confirmation of his mother's death, he had been having nightmares about his past. Krystal had been helping him greatly, but nothing seemed to be working. Kevin was young when it happened; when he experienced loss, when he experienced the effects of war. Nothing could heal the scars that he received, especially since he was only a teenager.

He was panting heavily. Cold sweat was running down his face. He wiped it off with his arm and got up from his bed. Still panting, he turned the water on in his bathroom. Kevin filled his cupped hands with cold water and splashed it on his face. The shock of icy water forced him out of his dreamy state and awoke him completely. He grabbed a hand towel that was next to him and wiped his face off. Looking up at himself in the mirror, he saw his scar; the one given to him by the insane Wolf O'Donnell. Though he had a procedure done to hide it, the doctors told him it wouldn't stay invisible forever. The scar would come back, but not to it's original form; instead it would be dull.

Kevin slowly brushed his fingers across the scar. It ran down his left eye and onto his chin. It wasn't very noticeable, but it was there; a permanent reminder of the hell he went through on Earth.

"I knew it would come back" he said softly.

Suddenly, a knock at his door was heard. He looked over out of the bathroom and turned the faucet off. He walked over to the door and opened it. Outside was Krystal standing in her nightgown.

"I sensed pain from you. Was it another nightmare?" She asked calmly.

Kevin lowered his head and nodded, "Yeah, it was" he said, "I'm fine now. It won't happen again tonight."

Krystal titled her head, "Are you sure? It's still early." It was only 1:00 A.M.

Kevin nodded again, "I promise"

Krystal was a very smart vixen. She knew exactly what Kevin was thinking, and that was that he only hoped that it wouldn't happen again.

"Let me come in" She said.

Kevin shook his head trying to reason with her, "No, no, i'm fine, really. I can handle a few bad dreams."

She didn't budge, "No Kevin, I'm going to help you with this."

Kevin stood silent for a second. Lowering his head in defeat, he stood aside and allowed the vixen to enter.

She walked in and sat down next to the bed. Kevin closed the door and sat across from her. She held her hands out and closed her eyes. Kevin did so as well and grabbed her hands. Almost immediately were they inside of Kevin's subconscious.

Just like the first time they had done this, Kevin and Krystal journeyed through Kevin's memories. The two found various thoughts that had been corrupting Kevin's mind. Krystal took them in and completely erased them. Her telepathy had so many uses; she could sense emotions, brain waves, eradicate emotional pain, read thoughts, and even predict actions with great accuracy.

She opened her eyes along with Kevin. He smiled at her.

"Thanks" he said, "Now I can get back to sleep."

The two got up together. Krystal then hugged Kevin.

"Don't reject my help if you know it will help you a lot." She said in his ear.

Kevin smiled and nodded, "I know" he released her, "It's just hard to handle all of it."

She nodded, "You know I went through the same thing."

He knew very well what she meant. She had to go through the loss of her planet, her friends, her family, everything. Kevin could only imagine that pain she felt when it all happened; he couldn't fathom such a feeling.

"Now" she said as she put a hand on Kevin's shoulder, "Try to get some sleep."

He nodded and went back to his bed. Kevin lied down and watched Krystal walk out of the room. Once the door closed, he closed his eyes and slowly drifted back into his sleep.

The team had been on vacation for the past year. Since the start, they had done so much. Kevin met his love, Rose, and made a friend, Will, and had proven himself to society on Corneria. It wasn't a calm vacation though; every once in a while General Pepper would assign them small missions or jobs. Most weren't too difficult, but there were some where work needed to be done.

Aside from that, Kevin went through a lot. The one thing that stuck to him the most, however, was his encounter with a very strange Cornerian avian. A falcon by the name of Derik Boulse, whom had attempted to kill Kevin, was constantly running around in his mind. This avian wasn't like anyone on Corneria. Kevin remembered him so vividly because of the sights that he saw. Self-healing wounds, incredible fighting skills, and worst of all, a warning. One that chilled Kevin after he had saw what the avian was capable of.

The falcon claimed to be part of a race known as Yuthan. According to the avian, Kevin had 'intervened' with the Yuthans plan and was 'not seen'. The avian even told Kevin that he would one day regret ever killing Wolf. Of course, Kevin was relieved slightly after he had found several empty pill bottles on the avian's body, but it still scared him every time he thought of it.

Even after that, the future had plans to relieve him. After visiting his home, Earth, and seeing it strive to become it's usual self once more, he felt more content. He felt that he had done good and that fate was in his favor. But, as everyone knows, life likes to play tricks on us every once in a while. Life likes to take sudden turns for events. Life likes to mess around with us. Life likes to ruin things for us. Everyone knows that not everything is set in stone. And Kevin was one who was blinded by it.

_Later that same day_

Kevin awoke slowly. Light seeped through the windows and into the room. Solar was at an angle that shined directly onto Kevin's face. He groaned a arose from his bed slowly. From the room, he could hear the noises of cars passing by on the road the star fox estate resided on. The zooming noises of the engines and the sounds of the planets indigenous wildlife were all that Kevin heard.

He got out of his bed and walked over to the shower. After he turned the water on, he looked at himself in the mirror once more. The scar was the first thing he noticed. As he was looking at himself with a blank and tired expression, the computer spoke.

"Water at set temperature."

Kevin then unclothed himself and stepped into the shower. The warm and soothing feel almost made him fall asleep. He shook out of it and started to wash himself. Once he finished, he grabbed the towel that he had put on the sink counter. He dried himself off and walked back out into his room. He walked to his closet and opened it up. Inside was a glass case containing his armor, pistol, staff, and communicator. On either side of the case were rows of clothing. Kevin grabbed a pair of dark blue jeans, a white shirt, and his casual shoes; they had a high top and a large tongue with a star logo on it. He put the articles of clothing on his bed and started to dress himself. He walked back to his closet and grabbed his leather jacket as well as his communicator from inside the glass case.

He cracked his neck and exited his room. He turned and walked down the stairs. As he was walking, he could hear Fox and Falco talking in the kitchen. He made his way to the bottom and into the kitchen.

"Morning, Kev" Fox said with a smile.

Kevin nodded, "Morning you two" he walked over to the fridge

Falco, who was leaning against the bar, spoke up "Sleep well last night?"

Kevin stopped searching and looked back, "Yeah, like a little angle." He said with a smile and chuckle.

Fox and Falco started to chuckle as well.

Fox spoke up, "So how's everything with Rose? I haven't seen her since she joined."

Kevin grabbed a drink that was in the back of the fridge. It was some milk. He grabbed it and grabbed a cup.

"She's doing fine. She told me that she wouldn't be able to handle some missions, depending on her schedule with Space Dynamics." Kevin said as he poured the drink into his glass.

Falco chuckled, "You know, i still can't believe you two settled in."

Kevin smiled, "Well, not me, not yet."

Fox looked a bit surprised, "Really?"

Kevin shrugged, "I don't know just yet. I love her, but i'm just not sure."

Falco then gestured to Fox, "Well Foxy said he wasn't sure."

Kevin shook his head, "That's a different story. A whole other story. I understand Fox's decision process. To be honest, i'd have a hard time deciding too."

Fox smiled, "Yeah Falco, Kevin's still pretty young."

I nodded, "Yeah, marriage is something that's on my mind, but not priority. Right now, I'm just girlfriend and boyfriend."

Slippy then walked into the kitchen, "Sup guys." he said with a smile. He was wearing his yellow work suit.

The three others welcomed Slippy.

"We got any plans today?" He asked.

Fox shook his head, "Nah, nothing today. Just kick back and relax. But if you guys have anything on mind, go ahead and speak it."

Everyone shook their heads. They hadn't done anything in a while. It's been about a week since they had actually done something. The last thing they did was go out to a restaurant.

Krystal the walked into the kitchen, "Good morning everyone."

Everyone greeted her. Kevin walked out and into the living room. He sat down on the couch softly and turned the holo tv on.

"Did everyone sleep well?" Krystal asked.

Slippy chuckled, "Wouldn't you know?"

Krystal smiled, "Yes, but I actually had good control while I slept last night." Krystal, even though she was a master at her telepathy, would sometimes lose control while she slept. He mind would drift away and sometimes enter the others minds. But last night she controlled it very well and only sensed emotions, rather than every thought the others had; hence why she had awoken to Kevin's pain.

Fox and Falco then walked into the living room and sat down next to Kevin. Slippy and Krystal stayed in the kitchen and made themselves some breakfast.

"So what's happening in this world we live in?" Fox said as he changed the channel to the news.

The news reporter was talking about some subtle events that had happened. One was about the success of a concert by a famous band named The Children. The reporter said that it had brought in a large amount of money for the band and that it was nearly the biggest debut in music history.

There were other reports about stocks, politics, and traffic, but one report caught the teams attention.

"Breaking news has just come in. We have been told that the Cornerian Interplanetary Bank is currently being hold up. We go to our air correspondent, Nesha Julians, for an aerial view. Nesha?" The reporter said.

The screen then cut to footage of a large police force outside of the bank. Almost everything was there; SUF (Special Unit Force), police, Sheriff, even some of the Defense Force.

"As you can see right now, there is a huge presence of police as this situation grows more and more tense. We have been told that it is a hostage situation and that there are an estimated 40 hostages and 10 armed assailants." The sky reporter said.

It then cut to an interview with the Lieutenant, the same one Kevin spoke with when Derik Boulse was killed.

"We are currently working negotiations with these men. Uh we have our SUF team suiting up and ready to move in, however these men have military grade equipment with them and we simply can't just barge into the bank."

It cut back to the news room, "We've reached out to General Pepper on this manner and have yet to get a response."

Just as she said this, the team wide communicator started to bleep. On the screen, words spelled out 'incoming call from General Pepper'. Fox grabbed the remote and answered the call. General Pepper appeared on the screen, with is hands together and him sitting behind his desk.

"General Pepper, what a surprise." Fox said with a smile.

Pepper smiled, "It's good to see you too." He paused, "Anyway, I have called for a favor."

Everyone nodded.

"As you may have heard, the Cornerian Bank is currently under attack. There are many heavily armed men holding hostages. According to the forces, not even the SUF's special stealth unit can get in. I have also been told that these men want no ransom, nor do they plan on releasing the hostages. In fact they have already killed three after the SUF attempted to enter the bank undetected."

Falco leaned forward, "What are you getting at?"

Pepper nodded, "I'm about to get to that. I called to offer you a job. Seeing as how our police force can't get near the bank without consequences, I am left with new decisions. Of course, my first was to see for you could assist. As always you will be paid for your work."

The team looked at each other.

Kevin saw that everyone was nowhere near ready for anything. He and Falco were the only ones that had regular clothes on. Everyone else was still in their sleep wear. Seeing this, Kevin stood up, "I'll go, it'll be better if one of us helps. We won't need the entire team to get in and take these guys out. Besides, I have a plan that can get me in the bank in no time."

Falco then got up, "I've got nothin better to do, I'll go too."

Fox looked at the two, "You sure you can handle it by yourselves?"

Kevin nodded and looked at Falco, "Of course, it's just a few thugs that don't know how to think straight."

Fox the stood up, "General, I'm sending Kevin and Falco to assist."

General Pepper smiled, "Good luck gentlemen, and please be careful."

The holo display then turned off and went back to the news.

Kevin looked at Falco, "Let's get going."

With that, the two headed for the front door. While they were walking, Kevin typed a few commands on his communicator. He had activated the teleporting function on his armor, for his plan required the use of it.

The two walked out of the house. Kevin looked at Falco, "Get your armor ready for teleport. We're going to need them."

Falco did so as they entered Kevin's CTZ.

"Let's go get us some thugs." Kevin said as he cracked his neck and started the vehicle.

This group of armed men sounded incredibly dangerous to Kevin. Military grade equipment and wasting a few hostages; that didn't fly too well with him. But, little did he know that this was to be the beginning of something awful; something that had been haunting him for some time now.

_To Be Continued …_

And there we go. Chapter 1.

Leave a review and tell me what you thought. I always love the feedback and it helps me improve with each one I get.

Update is already up on the blog.

Until next time…


	3. Another Warning

_Another week has gone by. We continue our story as Kevin and Falco are about to fight against a rather strong enemy group. Warning: Violence_

_Are you ready?_

**Chapter 2: Another Warning**

5 days until contact…

Kevin and Falco flew down the road. They were on a tight schedule and needed to get to the bank as quickly as possible. Kevin made sharp turns left and right until they finally made it downtown. The bank was near the center, so Kevin needed to take detour routes to get to the situation. Kevin was not one to dawdle around knew the importance and severity of the mission at hand. He started to honk as he drove over onto the sidewalk. The pedestrians quickly jumped out of the way.

"I see them" Falco said as he pointed straight ahead.

Numerous amounts of police vehicles and and police officers surrounded one central building. Kevin drove out into the middle of an intersection, nearly hitting one car. He then pulled up next to a man who was waving his arms. As soon as the car stopped, the two walked out.

"Mr. Michelson!" The uniformed man said.

Falco and Kevin walked up to the officer.

He shook both of their hands, "It's really good to see you here. As you can see, the situation is getting worse as time progresses."

The plice all had their guns pointed at the building. Some were conversing and others were simply on stand-by with their weapons at the ready.

Kevin looked at the building and the surrounding ones. He saw snipers up on the roofs of the adjacent building and some in the rooms of these buildings. He then looked back at the officer, "Exactly what has happened?"

The man nodded, "Right" he paused, "Follow me"

The officer then led Falco and Kevin into one of the police vans. Inside was the Lieutenant and Commissioner.

"Ah, Kevin Michelson" the Lieutenant said with a smile, "I knew that Pepper had good intentions when he told me back up was on the way."

Kevin shook the man's hand, "Anything to help out."

The Lieutenant nodded, "Right, currently we can't even get near the building. These men are armed to the grit of their teeth with Military Grade Equipment. We've already tried moving in but were faced with a serious consequence."

Kevin cut in, "The few hostages that were killed."

The Lieutenant nodded.

Suddenly the Commissioner spoke, "Excuse me, how do you think you'll be getting in there?"

Kevin smiled and looked at Falco, "We have our ways. Don't worry, both of us will be in and out without a single civilian casualty."

The Lieutenant sighed and shook his head, "I understand your skill set, but I just don't feel comfortable risking more lives."

Kevin shook his head, "Sir, the more you think about whether this idea is good or bad, the worse the situation gets. The men inside are probably tired of the hold up." He looked at Falco, "Let's get moving."

The two jumped out of the vehicle. Kevin landed in his ground pound position. As soon as his fist hit the ground, a blue light emitted from him. When it disappeared, he got up to his feet and stretched. His new black and blue armor had replaced his clothes.

Falco did the same and had his armor on. It was red and grey and looked a bit similar to his flight suit, only with armor plating and a helmet.

Kevin looked around and saw the crowd of people standing far from the action. They were cheering and yelling. He disregarded them and focused on the matter at hand.

"Okay" Falco said, "How do you want to do this?"

Kevin pointed to a door on the side of the building, "You go through there. Make sure your reflective camo is on before you cross the police line." He then pointed to the opposite end of the building, "I'm going through the other side. Basically, we're going in stealth. Don't fire unless you are fired upon, which shouldn't happen since you're invisible."

Falco nodded, "Sweet" he then grabbed the large knife that was in a holster on his left thigh, "Finally get to use this."

Kevin chuckled, "Be careful and try to keep quiet when you're in there; we don't want these guys killing anymore civilians."

Falco nodded again, "You think I'm that reckless? Pft, and they said I was over judgmental."

Kevin shook his head, "Just go"

The two then went opposite directions. Kevin made his way around the large police encirclement until he was on the opposite side of the building from Falco.

"Falco, do you ready me?" Kevin said as he activated his eye piece and pulled up a small piece of cloth over his mouth. He put it in himself because he felt vulnerable with only a back neck plate and eyepiece.

Falco came back over the comm, "Loud and clear Kev."

Kevin looked to either end of him and yelled, "Whatever you hear or see," he said to at the surrounding officers "do not open fire. I repeat, if you hear gunshots, screaming, anything, do not open fire!"

He saw several officers nod in understanding. Other's kept their weapons aimed at the building.

Kevin cracked his neck, "Go silent" he said before he activated the suits light bending technology. Kevin's body then slowly formed to the light around him as he disappeared almost completely from sight. Some officers gasped when they saw him disappear suddenly.

Kevin the grabbed his blade and started to move towards the building.

He whispered, "Okay Falco, remember, don't shoot unless you really need to. Keep your gun near just in case."

He replied with a subtle tone, "Gotcha"

Kevin's eyepiece then scanned the door that he was in front of him. It detected no life forms on the other side. He grabbed the knob and slowly opened the door. He slid inside and slowly shut it.

"Okay, I'm in" he said quietly.

Falco quickly replied, "Me too"

"The hostages should be held in the main room. Make your way through and kill any guard that you see." Kevin said, "Begin radio silence."

Kevin was determined to get these people to safety. He was in a mood like nothing he had been in before. He was motivated and very well calmed about this small mission. However, something didn't feel right to him. It felt something more was happening here.

He slowly moved down the small hall. On either end were offices. Each empty of people. He continued moving down until he reached the door. He scanned it and found two life forms on the other side.

He quietly exhaled, "Let's do this" he thought.

He slowly turned the knob and had his knife at the ready. The door opened a few inches, enough for Kevin to squeeze through. He didn't bother closing it, instead he crouched down and slowly moved towards the two unsuspecting thugs. As he neared, he slowly arose.

As he was moving, one of the guards spoke, "Did you hear something?"

Kevin immediately stopped moving and stood as still as he could possibly be.

One guard looked back and shrugged, "Must have been that door."

The other looked at him, "So it just opened by itself?"

The guard shrugged again, "Well obviously, who the hell could have done it?"

The worried guard shook his head and turned around. He started to move towards the door, but was heading right for the space Kevin was occupying.

He saw no way out of it. The guard would notice the moving air if Kevin moved away from the guard. The camouflage worked well, but not for enemies that were mere inches away. Anyone would instantly notice the distortion in the shape of a body right on front of them. Seeing this, Kevin slashed at the guard. His blade went right through the guards throat. As soon as the guard fell, Kevin lunged at the other guard and slit his throat as well.

As the guard fell, Kevin felt a vibration in his belt. He opened the compartment and pulled out his cell phone. It was an odd looking one. It had a black screen and projected a small image over it. The words read 'missed call from Rose'.

He shook his head, "Damn it, she's gonna flip the next time I see her."

He put the device back into the compartment and ventured forward. Thankfully, the technology bent light very efficiently, so it could constantly keep the user hidden even after vigorous movement.

Kevin continued walking and reached a fork in the hall. As he crouched, he heard some voices. He went down the left hall and found a room full of thugs. They were all conversing with each other. They were talking about sports, the situation they were in, and even about women. Kevin found it a bit sickening to hear their degrading talk.

"Okay" he thought, "You guys are just disgusting."

The room was small with a desk, and two chairs in front of it. One thug was behind the desk, two were occupying the chairs, and three others were behind them.

He slowly opened the door and slid into the room. One guard heard it and looked over.

"What is it, Phelix?"

The thug shook his head, "Thought I heard something."

The entire room then looked back at the door, not knowing Kevin was standing right there.

As Kevin stood as still as he could possibly be, he felt the thugs eyes dig into his soul. The feeling of them all looking right at him made him feel weary and almost sick.

"Hey" one said, "Why's the door open? Didn't we close it?"

Kevin swallowed, "Damn doors" he thought to himself.

He started to plan his attack. It was a messy one, but it would have to work. Kevin wasn't incredibly fast, and the Wave was missing from his armor, so he had to do things much more differently.

He exhaled rather loudly.

"What was that?" one guard asked.

Kevin then moved. He slit the throat of the guard next to him, pushed him aside, slit the next, pushed him aside and slit the next. Then he threw the knife and landed a clean hit on the thug behind the desk. By now, the two sitting thugs had pulled their weapons and began firing randomly. Kevin dropped to the floor and grabbed the legs of the first chair thug. He fell to the ground and Kevin snapped his neck. He then pulled out his pistol and fired at the last guard. Kevin landed a clean headshot. With the guards dead, Kevin stood back up to his feet and walked over to grab his knife from the head of the desk thug.

Kevin walked out of the room and shook his head. He still felt queasy from the fact that they had almost detected him. Kevin had only been so close to death once before; when he fought Wolf. Though this wasn't as difficult as Wolf, it still presented a similar danger that could have easily killed Kevin; the guards could have landed a lucky shot on the invisible human and killed him without knowing. Even then, he still felt off. Something besides danger was seriously bothering him.

He sighed, "That was close"

He continued walking down the hall until his comm line began to ring. He connected the transmission.

"Kevin, I made it to the entrance of the main hall. My scan showed that there's 10 men inside with a crap load of hostages all in the center of the room." Falco said quietly.

Kevin nodded as he was walking slowly down the hall and up to the door. He scanned it and found that it was also the entrance to the main bank.

"I'm here too." Kevin said, "From what I got, three guys are behind the shielded counters, five surround the hostages, and two surround one other man in a chair. I guess the news didn't accurately report the assailant amount. I killed eight guys on my way here."

Falco chuckled quietly, "I only killed three."

Kevin shook his head and focused back on the problem they had, "Okay look" he said, "When we bust through, you jump down and take out the three men over by the chair. Once they're down, take down the one's by the hostages. After they're killed, we'll move in behind the shielded counters and kill the last three clueless guards."

Falco disagreed, "No, the guards by the hostages have their guns pointed at them. Take those guys out first and then hit the ones near the chair."

The human saw the flaw in his plan and agreed with the avian. Killing the hostage keepers first would ensure a 100% hostage safety count.

"Okay, on my mark, we bust through the doors. Watch your fire and pay close attention to where you're aiming." Kevin said. He took a deep breath, "3...2…" he exhaled, "1…"

_3 minutes before…_

"Boss!" one guard yelled as he ran through the doors of the lower level of the bank. The hostages all flinched at the loud noise of the doors slamming against the wall.

A man with a face wrapped in fabric arose from his seat. The being was short and had a rifle on his back, and a pistol holstered on his right thigh.

"What the hell is wrong?" The man asked.

The thug was panting, "Sir, I just got word that the police has called in for backup."

Silence engulfed the room for a minute. The thug was slightly confused at the silence. Suddenly, the man began to laugh softly. It grew more and more until it was a full on demonic laugh.

"Sir?" The guard asked in confusion.

The masked man stopped his laughter, "Back up? What kind of back up?"

The thug shrugged, "We don't know, but it's 'promising' back up."

The man chuckled. It was almost as if he knew exactly what was about to happen. "Yes, perfect. All is going according to plan."

Again the thug was confused, "You planned for us to fight our way out?"

The masked man shook his head, "No, my plan is far more grander. I expected this, along with my superiors." he paused, "Go back and listen to the radio waves. Come back if the name Kevin Michelson is mentioned at all."

The thug nodded and left the room.

_2 minutes later…_

The same thug walked back into the main bank and up to the masked man. The thug, whom was wearing armor, nodded.

"Well?" Asked the masked man.

The armored thug spoke, "Kevin Michelson and Falco Lombardi are on their way."

The man laughed, "Good"

The thug raised his rifle, "I assume you want us in high alert and want us to kill them."

The man immediately stopped laughing, "No!" He said suddenly and loudly, "I need them alive. Capture them and bring them to me."

The thug, still confused, nodded and left the room.

The masked man slowly sat back down in his chair. He looked at the hostages, whom were on their knees and their hands behind their heads.

"It looks like you all are about to leave." He said, "Do not worry, your deaths will be quick and painless. Think of it as a gift from my superiors."

_Present time…_

"Okay, on my mark, we bust through the doors. Watch your fire and pay close attention to where you're aiming." Kevin said. His eyepiece was set to identify. The piece scanned the room ahead and outlined friendlies and hostiles. Just ahead was a figure crouched, it as Falco, and below him were red beings with guns and blue beings on their knees. He took a deep breath, "3… 2…" he exhaled, "1…"

With his gun ahead of him and pointing down at the ground level, Kevin burst through the doors. On the other end, a pair of doors flew open, a blue outline of an avian ran out and began firing at the lower level.

Kevin ran to the edge and fired down at the guards surrounding the hostages. They were clueless and went down without firing a single shot. Kevin jumped down to the ground level and fired at the three thugs by the chair. The one sitting escaped and trapped himself in one of the offices, while the other two were killed.

Kevin looked around and saw the three guards behind the shielded glass. They looked frightened and were completely clueless; they saw nothing but random lasers appear out of no where and kill their colleagues.

Falco was slowly moving towards the door that led behind the glass. When he opened it, the guards snapped their attention over at it. Falco went around the corner and slowly walked right towards the cautious guards, however they didn't notice the blur that was moving towards them.

Kevin watched as Falco raised his weapon and dropped the three guards. When the guards fell, kevin contacted him.

"Falco, you can break radio silence." He said.

Falco chuckled, "Good god these guys suck. It almost hurts me to deal with such clueless morons, but then again they killed a few innocents."

Kevin nodded and walked over to the hostages. They were all looking around, some with their hands up, as if trying to push back something. Kevin walked over in front of them and deactivated his camouflage.

The hostages all gasped at the sight.

"Is everyone okay?" Kevin asked.

Some nodded and others shook their heads.

Falco then came running in beside Kevin, "Hey, there's one left."

Kevin looked around and activated the thermal on his eye piece. He scanned the room and found a small figure crouching behind what looked like a desk. Kevin turned the thermal off and headed for the office.

"Start getting the hostages out of here. Get them to the elevator and take them back to the surface." Kevin said as he walked over to the office with his gun on standby.

Falco nodded, "Alright everyone, let's get you home." He then led them through a door that was on the same level as them. Inside the room was the elevator.

Kevin slowly walked towards the office and raised his gun. He turned the knob and swung the door open. He quickly jerked his gun around, looking for someone. He slowly moved into the room and found the masked man hiding under the desk.

"Get the fuck up!" Kevin yelled.

The man did so and slowly arose from under the desk. He slowly raised his hands and put them on his head.

Kevin, with his gun still pointed at him, grabbed the masked man and shoved him out of the office, "Under the jurisdiction of the Cornerian Police Force and command of Star Fox, and also because I'm slightly in a good mood, you are under arrest. Be glad that I'm in that good mood, otherwise you'd be dead."

The man chuckled, "So you're a puppet."

Kevin stopped shoving him and pistol whipped him across the face. The man fell to the ground in pain.

"Excuse me?" Kevin asked in disgust.

The man coughed, "You're all just puppets whose strings are pulled by Pepper."

Kevin then kicked the man in the abdomen. He coughed more and rolled over onto his back.

"You know" Kevin said as he leaned over to look at the thug, "You're starting to piss me off."

The man chuckled, "Ah yes, i can feel your anger. It's building up inside of you. Just like when you killed Wolf."

Kevin kicked the man once more, "You'd be angry too if he threatened your home planet."

The man started to laugh once more, "If he threatened my home planet, he'd be killed on the spot."

Kevin tilted his head, "What?"

The man then suddenly jumped to his feet, "Don't you remember? When you boarded Wolf's flagship and killed Leon? When you found his Marauder team? When you killed Wolf with the staff of the vixen. Yuthan is capable of so much more than you think."

Kevin shook his head in disbelief. The name! The name he had been warned with before. Just the sound of it messed with Kevin so much; this is what had been bothering him.

"No!" He yelled. Kevin then jerked his left arm up. A compartment on the side of it opened and launched his staff into the air. While in mid air, the staff instantly extended to its normal size. Kevin caught it and spun it around, "You're just as crazy and Derik."

The man laughed, "We are not crazy. We are simply superior."

Kevin shook his head, "Superior my ass. I'll kill you just for saying that."

He then charged at the masked man. He swung his staff around his back and struck the man across the face. He spun around in the air and landed on the ground. Kevin then jumped up and slammed the staff down. The man was quick and rolled away, causing the staff to strike the floor and crack it. The man jumped back to his feet and raised his hands into a battle stance.

Kevin cracked his neck and activated the flames on each end of the staff. The ends of the staff opened and the flames began to burn.

"Let's dance, Yuthan." Kevin said with determination in his voice.

He spun the staff around his side and began swinging at the Yuthan. He jumped back at each strike but felt the immense heat radiating from the flames.

Kevin then spun it around and swung at the mans face once more. This time, he slightly released the staff and had it extend further out. It landed a direct hit on the mans face, sending him spinning and hitting the ground once more.

"Argh!" The man yelled as he stumbled to his feet with his hand on his face. He slowly removed his hand, revealing a terribly burned side of his face. The fabric was gone and revealed some fur that was burned.

"You are a very interesting fighter." He said, "No wonder we couldn't predict your actions."

Again, something Kevin heard before. It was starting to clear up for him, but it was still somewhat unclear. He understood the apparent Yuthan threat that was imminent, but he didn't understand the plan. He was getting mad and confused just by thinking of it.

"Prometheus has a fight on his hands." The Yuthan said with a frown.

"ENOUGH!" Kevin yelled as he swung several more times, this time hitting the man in the side, up the head and back down, and then a jab.

The man fell back, tired and weak and with blood rushing from his sides, and head. Kevin had put a great beating on this man. The Yuthan was breathing heavily.

Kevin walked over to his side with his staff at the ready. He was angry and near pissed with this Yuthan.

"Well!?" He yelled, "Heal yourself!" Kevin yelled at the downed Yuthan, "Come on!"

The man shook his head, "It is not… part of the plan."

Kevin shook his head, "Whatever you're saying" he said in a voice of anger, "you'll take it to your grave."

The man slowly nodded, "You…" he coughed, "...have been warned. Take the warning."

Kevin shook his head, "Don't need the warning."

The man shook his head, "No, take it. You will… need it. They… are coming… to help."

Now Kevin was incredibly confused. He had just beat down a Yuthan, and now he's saying something about help being on the way.

"Who?" Kevin asked, "WHO!"

The man slightly chuckled and shook his head. Dieing with his last breath being breathed through his laugh. The dead Yuthan then did something that frightened Kevin. His body deteriorated and a yellow light began to emit from the body.

Kevin arose back to his feet and retracted the staff back to its mobile length. He opened the compartment that was on his left arm and placed the staff in the mechanism. He closed the compartment and headed for the door Falco had used to take the hostages back up. He looked back at the body and saw that the light and corpse had both disappeared. The doors opened and Kevin rode the elevator up to the surface. The elevator made it's way up and opened.

A large hall with tables, chairs, desks, and computers was on the other side. The bank was a two story building, the bank being the lower underground level, and the work area being the upper surface level. The entire front wall of the building was glass. As Kevin walked towards it, he saw the police vehicles and police offices with their guns drawn at the building.

"Hold your fire!" he heard some officers yell.

Kevin opened the glass door and raised his arms up above his head.

"It's Michelson! Stand down!" more officers yelled.

Kevin the lowered his arms. He wiped his face from some blood that was on it. He thought nothing and walked towards the police line, deep in thought about what the "Yuthan" said.

"Kevin!" Falco yelled.

He looked over at him. Falco out his hand on his shoulder, "You okay?"

Kevin shook his head, but then started to nod, "Yeah, everything's fine."

Falco raised an eyebrow, "You sure?"

Kevin nodded repeatedly, "Yeah, just don't worry; let's just get back home. That last freak put up a good fight."

Falco nodded, "Okay, I'll contact Pepper on our way."

The two headed for Kevin's CTZ but were stopped by the Lieutenant.

"Michelson!" He yelled.

Kevin looked back.

The vulpine Lieutenant nodded, "Thanks for the help."

Kevin smiled and waved, "It wasn't a problem."

Falco and Kevin then went down into the ground pound and teleported their armor back to their original spots; Kevin's cloths were back on his body and well as Falco's on his.

The two then headed off back to the estate. Kevin's mind was on the potential danger Lylat and Solar were in.

"Contact General Pepper" Kevin said while driving.

A HUD appeared near the dashboard with the Cornerian Defense Force logo on it.

"Pepper here"

Falco spoke up, "The situation has been dealt with."

Pepper nodded, "Yes, the news is reporting it right now. I have also transferred the funds to both of your accounts."

Falco nodded, "Sweet"

Kevin thought of what the "Yuthan" said. Was he lying? Was he just as crazy as Derik? He convinced himself that it was all a trick and part of some stunt to get Kevin to leave Lylat. Sure, he caused everyone to like him after returning from the Earth war, but some people didn't budge and kept their grudge against the human. Kevin was set, this threat was just some trick and nothing more.

But what about the light? The body? These two major things escaped Kevin's mind completely. A mistake he will ultimately regret.

_To be continued…_

Oooooh boy, another chapter. So, what'd you think? Things are beginning to heat up!

Leave a review and tell me what you thought. Also keep in mind that if you have to be caught up with characters, story, or other things, the blog has pages that handle it just fine.

A huge update is up on the blog as well.

I'll see you all next chapter.

Until next time...


	4. Increasing Problems

_PLEASE READ: Real quick guys. I just wanted to tell you of how grateful I am of all of you. Seriously, none of this would be happening without you. I'm just so overwhelmed at how you guys enjoy my stories. Sure there's a few of you, but that's all that matters. You liking what I do is what drives me. And now, I am fulfilling my dream. I started the 3D Animation project (details on blog) and can't wait to finish it in the year i plan on working on it. Really guys, thank you all for encouraging me, for loving the books, for reviewing with good or bad reviews, and most of all for giving me a hobby that i absolutely enjoy. _

_Now, on with the story :)..._

**Increasing Troubles **

A day has passed since the fight in the bank. Falco and Kevin both received their pay from General Pepper and returned home safely. But, the team was not at rest.

_4 Days Until Contact__…_

Kevin walked down the stairs from his room and into the living area. He looked over and found Fox, Krystal, Falco, and Rose talking. Kevin had just got up from a nap he was taking. It was about midday, around 3:00 PM.

Fox looked over and found Kevin lounging on the couch, "Looks who's up."

Kevin looked over and smiled, "Very funny"

The four walked over and sat down in the living area along with Kevin. Rose sat next to him while the other took their spots.

Krystal spoke, "What got you so tired?"

Kevin shrugged, "Probably the bank mission. I didn't get much rest after that."

Fox spoke up, "So exactly what happened? Did these guys want a ransom?"

Kevin shook his head, "No, just some gang trying to lure me away from Lylat."

Krystal titled her head, "What makes you think that?"

Kevin chuckled, "Another psycho warning me about some team trying to kill me. Told me to leave and be warned."

Fox shook his head, "Oh god, just like that Derik Boulse you fought a while back."

Kevin sighed, "Yep, that was one crazy day."

Rose then spoke, "Um, Kevin" She said.

Kevin looked at her, "Hm?"

She then took her finger and wiped his face, above his cheek. She looked at what she had just rubbed off and showed it to Kevin. She had blood on her thumb.

Kevin cleared his throat, "What's that?"

Rose sighed, "Blood from a scratch. A big one too."

Kevin then felt around his face and found a decent sized scratch on his right cheek. He was baffled to feel the liquid.

"What?" He said in shock, "What the hell hit me?"

Fox shrugged, "Did anyone in the bank land a hit on you?"

Kevin shook his head, "No, none of them could hardly fight. Though the last guy was fast."

Krystal spoke up, "He must have hit you and you didn't notice."

Kevin got up and shook his head, "No way, the staff's fire kept him at bay. There's no way he even got close to hitting me."

He walked over to a mirror that was hanging on the wall opposite from where the couches were. He looked at his face and saw the scratch. Blood was still seeping through it.

"That's weird. It's a small cut; how in the hell is it still bleeding?" He asked as he rubbed it softly.

Fox shrugged, "I'm not sure, but that is weird."

Kevin shrugged as well and walked back to the couch. He sat down next to Rose.

"You want some of the wound serum? It should stop the bleeding." Krystal asked.

Kevin shook his head with a frown, "Nah, it's just a cut."

Falco then turned the holo display on and switched over to the evening news. Several storied were being highlighted, including one about the aftermath of the bank attack. The reporters spoke merely about how Falco and Kevin snuck inside and cleared out the armed assailants. They also spoke about how some of the hostages were doing after they were liberated. Most were doing fine, but others had to go to a special class for mental stability. Seeing the few being killed put a massive scar on their brains, so they were being helped with it.

The fight with this "psychotic" man hardly fazed Kevin. All he had from the fight was a small cut that he didn't notice until Rose pointed it out, a full day later. Kevin pretty much forgot what had happened, except for the fact that the man tried to scare Kevin and that he was killed. Other than that, Kevin didn't remember much.

As the day went on, Kevin noticed his cut wasn't really healing. Before he went off to bed, he put some of the healing serum on it just in case it were to become infected. Once the substance was placed, Kevin went off to bed. He wasn't worried about it. At the time, he was more worried about the date he set up with Rose for tomorrow. A new movie was coming out and Rose said that she wanted to go and watch it. Of course, Kevin agreed and set up the date. However, that plan would be cut out, for something terrible was beginning to happen.

_3 Days Until Contact__…_

Kevin shot up out of bed, "No!" He screamed. Cold sweat was running down his face and he was breathing heavily. As he sat there, he realized that it was another nightmare. He dug his head into his hands, grieved that he had yelled.

He felt awful. He put his face in his hands again and sighed, still panting and sweating. He rubbed his face from the sweat and sat up on the edge of the bed. Kevin was feeling suffocated and even felt difficulty in breathing. He got up quickly, grabbed his jacket, and headed for his door. When it opened, Kevin ran right into Krystal, knocking both of them over.

"Whoa!" Kevin said as he fell.

He toppled over but caught himself with his arms extended. He looked at Krystal, whom was below him, and blushed. Her night gown had opened, revealing her undergarments. He quickly got up to his feet and apologized. Almost rushing down the stairs, Kevin felt even worse for embarrassing Krystal like that, even more so himself. He opened the front door and walked outside.

Krystal had just gotten back up to her feet, blushing herself. She sensed the emotion inside of Kevin, he felt troubled, embarrassed, and had pain dwelling all inside of him.

Kevin slowly walked out into the large grass patch of the estate. He reached the middled and then dropped down on both of his knees. He was feeling so much emotional pain; the dreams would just constantly haunt him, regardless of what Krystal did. He fell forward and the turned over, facing the night sky. Above him were billions of stars dotting the sky. He sighed at the peaceful sight. He then closed his eyes and focused on the sounds around him. The indigenous creatures that served as Corneria's wildlife were about. The cool wind was slowly blowing across where Kevin was laying and brushed over him. The stars above were beautiful; in fact, Kevin could even see some of the Milky Way.

He then heard a door open from behind him. He looked up and saw Krystal standing in front of the estate. Kevin then looked back forward and at the stars, now blushing.

Soft footsteps in the grass were heared. Kevin looked back again and saw Krystal walking towards him. He took in the fact that she wanted to talk and began to hide his thoughts. As Krystal neared, he felt her attempt to enter his mind, however he rejected her and pushed her out. When he did so, he heard her stop for a moment.

"Krystal" he said softly, "I'm sorry that I did that. I was just… in a rush to get air. I'm sorry if I caused you any discomfort."

Krystal then began walking once more, she kneeled down beside where Kevin was laying.

"I understand, I _was _in the way." She said, "But why did you reject me just now?" she asked softly.

Kevin shook his head and looked up at the female; he could hardly see her face, but he could recognize it was her.

"I…" he said, "I… just can't handle it all. They constantly haunt me and I just can't escape from these dreams."

Krystal put a hand on Kevin's forehead, "But I can help you. I've been doing so ever since you first left Earth."

Kevin chuckled softly and looked up at the Cerinian, "I know Krystal" He looked back at the stars, "but they don't go away. They always find a way back."

The two were silent for a moment.

"If I'm going to overcome this, then I need to do it myself." Kevin finally stated.

Krystal looked up at the sky. As she did, Kevin got up from the grass and began walking back to the house.

Krystal watched him and then lowered her head. She knew the pain he was feeling, she knew every last bit of it. However, she learned to cope with it; Kevin was affected at such a young age and lost so much. She didn't know the feeling of losing so much at such a young age with such a young mind.

As Kevin walked inside, he started to head up to his room. As he passed a hanging mirror, he gave himself a quick glance. However, he stopped and shot his head back at the glass. He was stunned to see something that wasn't supposed to be. The cut he had discovered the day before was larger. About twice as big as the day before. This somewhat worried him. He then reached up to feel it, if it was any worse condition, or if his eyes were playing tricks on him. He was met by a horrifying sight. As he touched his cut, blood smeared onto his face. He tried to wipe it off, but was met with more blood. He then looked at his hands and found much more blood covering it. He nearly yelled at the sight. As he found the blood, Krystal walked in, sensing Kevin's emotions.

"What's happened?" She asked as she walked over to him.

Kevin quickly ran up to his room and into the bathroom. Kevin looked at the clock, it read 7:00 A.M. He read it and then ran into the bathroom. He cupped his hands and placed them under the running water of his sink. He splashed his face and cleaned the blood off. He then grabbed the soft hand towel next to him and began patting his face dry.

Krystal walked in and found Kevin staring at himself in the mirror. As she walked in, Fox had left his room. Curious of what was happening, he walked into Kevin's room as well.

Krystal slowly walked towards the bathroom, "Is everything okay?" She asked.

Fox stopped next to Krystal, "What's going on?" he asked subtly.

Kevin was wiping his face and tried to clean the dried blood of of his hands. When his hands were clean, he grabbed the soft hand towel and started to pat his face dry. He slowly removed the cloth from his face and stared at himself. The cut was a lot bigger than it was yesterday.

Fox walked in the bathroom and noticed the wound, "Whoa" he said in shock.

Kevin looked at him, "This cut's worse!" he said.

Fox took a closer look at the wound. He was, himself, confused at the sight.

"Did you use the serum?" Fox asked.

Kevin nodded, "Yeah, right before I went to bed."

Fox then shrugged, "I would go see the doctor about this. Tell him how it's getting worse, there may be medicine that's stronger than the healing serum."

He shook his head and walked out of the bathroom, "I'll head out and see the doc now. It's already 7, so I might as well get ready for the day." He then yawned.

Fox walked out of the bathroom and over to Kevin. He patted his shoulder, "You'll get through these. Don't worry."

Kevin nodded, "Well, we'll see about that."

The two chuckled and Fox exited the room. Krystal however was still sitting on the bed. Kevin knew exactly what she was doing, even though his back was turned and he was picking out clothes. He felt her reaching into his mind. He didn't reject her, instead he allowed her to enter.

Kevin walked back to the bed with his clothes and set the down nicely. He thought, "Find anything?"

Krystal shook her head.

He smiled, "Well I have to get ready. I'll come into your room when I get back from the doctors, then we'll do a meditations session."

She opened her eyes and nodded, "Okay" she then got up, "I want to apologize."

Kevin raised an eyebrow, "For what?"

Krystal scratched the back of her head, "I'm the one waking you whenever you have a nightmare."

Kevin, still confused, shook his head, "You're apologizing for that?"

She nodded.

"Well, I didn't know you woke me, I thought I did so on my own and at the perfect time. But still, don't apologize. You help and end the suffering I endure in my head." Kevin assured her.

Krystal nodded and walked out of the room. Kevin started to undress himself and then dress back into his casual clothing. He had on some dark jeans, a black t-shirt, and his leather jacket. He walked out and headed down the stairs, for the front door. It was still dark on Corneria. On Earth, it started to get light around 6. Corneria is a much bigger planet, so light began showing at around 7:30 or 8.

He opened the door and walked outside. The cool, dark, morning air brushed across his face as he walked out of the house. He looked up and saw countless stars dotting the sky. Over the tree line, he saw the tall buildings of Corneria City. They were lit and bright. Kevin headed for the garage and walked inside. He got into his CTZ and headed off for the doctor.

While at the hospital, Kevin spoke with several people as he waited. Surprisingly, no one went crazy at the sight of a Hero of Lylat; Kevin liked it. While he was waiting, he easily conversed with two other Cornerians that were waiting their turn as well. They spoke about how life was and how things were going. Kevin was the subject of that, as the Cornerians knew of Kevin and how some people still didn't approve of him.

After some time passed, Kevin was called back. He met with Dr. Jones and the nurse assigned to help him. Jones examined the cut carefully and concluded that it was a mere cut and nothing more. Kevin insisted that it was something more, however Dr. Jones explained how no infection was detected, nor were there any signs of bacteria. Dr. Jones prescribed a special medicine lotion to Kevin, one that instantly killed any bacteria.

On his way back, Solar had made it's way over the horizon and was shining it's light over Coernia. Kevin was also contacted by Fox. According to him, General Pepper was on stand-by on the team comms channel. When Kevin arrived back at the estate, he was greeted by General Pepper. The holo display faced towards the front door, so when Kevin walked in, Pepper saw him immediately.

"Ah, there you are Kevin. I have some very important information for you." Pepper said. Kevin nodded, walked over, and sat down on the couch next to Rose.

"Anyway, we have a high value cargo fleet moving some goods to Macbeth. These are incredibly valuable and we need someone with skill like you to protect the fleet as they make their way to Macbeth." Pepper said, "I also have one other assignment for you to take on. It's much smaller, but it is important."

Fox nodded, "Go on"

Pepper cleared his throat, "We've been seeing some very strange activity coming from Aquas. Contact with the bases on the planet have shown futile, as they haven't detected anything unusual. This only worries us more."

Kevin was intrigued by this assignment.

"I want you to scout out the affected area of Aquas." Pepper finished.

Fox then stood up, "Sounds easy enough."

Kevin got up as well, "I can handle the scouting." Krystal added in, "I'll go as well."

Fox nodded, "It's settled then: Kevin and Krystal will scout out the Aquas situation, the rest of us will escort the cargo fleet."

Pepper nodded, "Good luck" he said, "I've also arranged for a transport to pick you up at the estate."

Fox nodded, "Appreciate it, General."

The comms line was then cut.

Everyone else got up from their seats.

"Let's head to Great Fox and suit up." Fox said.

Slippy spoke up, finally after being so quiet, "Great Fox actually went under some new upgrades. Slightly increased engines, better hull integrity, and slightly strengthened laser systems."

Fox chuckled, "Good, now no one can hurt us inside Great Fox."

Everyone then headed out of the estate and to the road. As Kevin was walking, he was stopped by Rose. She turned him around and gave him a hug.

"Be careful" She said.

Kevin nodded, "Don't worry, Krystal's with me and she's an incredible pilot. If anything happens we'll be safe."

Rose nodded and the two headed for the transport that had just landed in the street.

Everyone boarded and headed off for the docking bay. As they neared it, they saw the immense Dreadnaught Class III ship waiting in it's docking position. Fox had called ahead and order for the ship to be ready for take off.

The team exited the transport. It had landed right outside the main structure that surrounded the Great Fox. The team walked up to the elevator and took it up to the third floor of the enormous structure. The elevator door opened, in front of them was a walkway leading right into the landing bay of Great Fox. The team walked across and into the Dreadnaught ship.

"Hed up to your rooms and suit yup." Fox said.

They entered the Great Fox elevator and took it up to the living quarters of the ship. Everyone walked into the hallway and into their own rooms. Kevin walked into his and went straight for the closet. He opened it and found some of his cloths in it. Inside a glass case was his white flight suit. He opened the case and grabbed the one piece suit. He undressed himself and put on the slightly armored suit. Once he was snug inside, he headed straight for the elevator. He was to launch immediately and head to Aquas with Krystal. When he entered the elevator, Falco and Krystal quickly walked in. Falco was in his red battle suit and Krystal was in her blue suit given to her when she first joined.

"Landing Bay" Kevin said. The elevator started to move downward. Almost no time passed when it reached the bay. Krystal and Kevin walked out.

"Good luck you two" Falco said before the elevator doors closed.

Kevin looked back, "You two" he then faced Krystal, "You ready to get back in action?"

She smiled and nodded, "Absolutely"

Kevin the started to jog to his Arwing. When he neared it, the canopy opened up. He grabbed the wing and launched himself up onto the hull. He then jumped into the cockpit and closed the canopy.

He thought to himself, "It's about time we get a good sized mission."

He started to type various commands on the display in front of him.

"Communications line, green. Shields, maximum power. Laser Systems, armed. Smart Bomb holding unit, set. AI, active." He said.

Krystal came over the comm line, "All systems are working over here as well."

Kevin looked outside and saw that they were slowly moving up.

Outside, the large structure surrounding Great Fox began to move away from the ship. Workers were moving to and fro, trying to keep everything running smoothly. As the structure moved, the Great Fox began rising.

Up in the Bridge, Fox and Rose were watching over the systems. ROB was piloting and Slippy was checking to make sure everything was working properly.

"Alright," Fox said into his comm unit, "When we reach upper atmosphere, you guys can launch."

Kevi came back over the line, "Thank god we can finally do something."

Fox chuckled, "I know, it's been a while since we saw any action. Just stay focused and don't let your guard down."

The Great Fox then began to fly faster towards the sky. Kevin, still sitting in his Arwing, watched the city out in front of him. The launch bay was short, it merely shot the Awrings out and allowed them to take the rest in space, so not much space was needed in front of them.

As they got higher and higher, the cloud cover began to cover the immense ship. While in the cover, Kevin watched as the pressurized shield went up over the bay entrance.

Fox then came over the comm line, with his feed on the HUD in front of Kevin, "You two ready down there?" he asked.

Krystal replaced Fox's feed and answered, "We're all set."

Suddenly, Kevin felt his Arwing shift. It slowly lifted up and then moved forward slightly. He looked to either side and saw the platform move back.

"Just stay focused" Fox said, "It's only some activity that's worrying Pepper. Nothing too much should happen."

Krystal spoke up, "You never know for sure, Fox."

Kevin smiled, "If anything, it could be a small gang using one of the small islands as a training range."

The Arwing then lowered a little.

"Light Lock Released" he heard a computer say, "Engines activated"

Fox spoke up, "Good luck out there guys."

Suddenly, the two Arwings shot forward and were launched out of the landing bay. They spun wildly fast. Suddenly, they stopped and the wing extended out to their normal span.

"Alright Krys, let's make a jump to Aquas." Kevin said.

Her feed appeared on his HUD, "Setting the coordinates."

He typed in the location and heard his engines charge up.

"Destination Aquas" the AI said, "Launch in 5… 4… 3… 2… 1…"

The Arwing then lunged forward. The stars in Kevin's view then started to stretch to great lengths. A mere second passed when the stars shot past Kevin and then returned to normal form. Right in front of him, a large blue planet instantly appeared; he and Krystal had already arrived at Aquas.

He contacted General Pepper, "General, this is Kevin, do you read?" He asked over the comms.

Krystal was listening in carefully.

"Ah, Kevin, good to hear from you, I assume you arrived at Aquas?" the old hound asked.

He nodded, "Yes sir, Krystal and I just need to information forwarded to us so we scout out the area."

Pepper nodded, "Right, it's being sent as we speak."

Almost instantly did the AI speak, "Intelligence received. Displaying on radar."

Krystal nodded, "Thank you General."

He nodded back, "Good luck you two."

Kevin then looked at the radar, on it was a big red circle around a group of small islands.

He cleared his throat and cracked his neck, "Let's go see what's going on down there."

_To Be Continued…_

Yay! Another chapter! This one took a lot of thinking power for me to get right. Some decision to cut some parts for future chapters, and some other decisions were made.

Also, I know most of you will wonder why I put in the whole embarrassment bit. 1. It's to further increase their friendship in the future. 2. It's somewhat starts what Kevin thought he got away from. Yup, "fate just seems to like messing with him". This is gonna be one crazy book.

Until Next Time...


	5. A Mission Gone Wrong

_Welcome back guys! I hope the oneshot was good enough to hold you back until this was posted. I put in hard work, emotion, and past events in my life into the oneshot (they were tweaked in a way). _

_Further Updates (a lot) are on the blog :) _

_On with the story_

**A Mission Gone Wrong**

_3 Days Until Contact..._

Kevin and Krystal were flying low and fast across the seas of Aquas. It was dark and the water below them were violent in waves and currents. Above them were thick grey clouds filled with water waiting to be released. Before, they stopped at one of the Cornerian bases on the planet to get a proper briefing on what the situation was. Pepper simply relayed it at the base through a comms channel.

"We should be getting close to the area now" Kevin said over the comms.

The light from his dashboard holo screens emitted blue light into the cockpit. He looked out to his left and saw Krystal flying right next to him.

He looked back at his dash and payed close attention to the radar. They were nearing the edge of the circle quickly.

Krystal spoke, "Pepper said the signals were coming from a wide range. I saw we start by searching on the mountains. These islands are big, so starting high could possibly benefit us."

Kevin saw nothing wrong with the plan. A simple fly by for some odd sights.

"Sounds good"

The two Arwings then entered the red circle surrounding the large islands on the radar. It was about midnight on Aquas, so they could hardly see the island until the strong headlights of the Arwings started to hit the coast.

"There" Kevin said as he started to see and outline of a huge mountain range. The moonlight gave the large range a black color to it. "Slow down so we can see what's going on." The two flew up and high above the mountains.

The AI suddenly chirped, "Scans show no signs of life forms on surface."

Kevin stopped the Arwing in mid air with the G-Diffuser Brakes. He looked down and opened a holo screen with controls to the spotlight on the Arwing. The light extended out from underneath the front hull of the ship and turned on.

"Let's see what we got." Kevin said as he held the holographic screen and looked down over to his side. He scanned the area underneath him with the light and then started to move outward slightly.

"I can't see anything suspicious" Krystal said, "This part of the mountains must be clear."

Rain began to fall on top of the two Arwings. Thunder and white flashes of lightning were heard loudly. As the thunder began to roar, the rain started to hit harder, and the wind started to pick up.

Kevin ignored the nature and nodded as he continued looking down cautiously, "Okay, let's move down the range more to the other peaks."

With that he deactivated the G-Diffuser Brakes and followed after Krystal.

The wind was at incredible speeds. It was so much that Kevin was somewhat losing control while they headed over to the other side of the mountain range.

"Jesus, this wind is crazy." Kevin said, "Is Aquas usually like this?"

Suddenly, a bolt of lightning struck right next to where Kevin was flying.

"Oh shit" he said as he flinched and quickly regained control, "Krystal, we can't scan the end of the mountain range. This lighting is too much and we'll be hit if we fly too high."

But it was too late. Kevin looked ahead and saw Krystal decreasing altitude, as she was she was hit by several bolts of lighting.

"Argh!" She yelled as her Arwing shook violently.

"Krystal!" he yelled.

Kevin's Arwing then shook violently as well. He was hit several times by lightning just as Krystal was.

"Oh shit!" Kevin yelled as alarms started to blare in the cabin. He lost control of the Arwing and started to spiral out of control to the ground below.

"Krystal, EJECT!" He yelled as he saw her spinning like he was.

The only component left working was his shield gauge, which read 0. Because of this, the automatic ejection was activated.

"Oh boy" Kevin said as he read 'Eject'.

Suddenly the canopy flew open and Kevin was shot out into the dark, windy, raining, and cold night air. The lightning must have fried the components and electrical systems. As he was flying up, the harness system retracted away from Kevin. As he began to fall down towards the ground, he flew out of the seat and was sent into a free fall towards the unknown ground.

"OH SHIIIIIT!" Kevin yelled as he fell. Spinning quickly as he fell, he feared for his life now.

He landed on something, or more so in something. He hit with great force, so much that he was knocked unconscious from the impact. All he could tell was that he landed in something wet and cold. After that, he blacked out.

oOoOo

A scene began to unfold in front of his eyes. A man in a suit of armor was standing with his back turned to Kevin. The human reached down to his side for his gun, but was shocked to see that it was missing. His armor was there, but his D-40 was gone.

The man suddenly chuckled, "So, you're Kevin Michelson."

He looked at the mysterious man with shock.

"I really can't believe my race can't predict the moves of a teenager." The man said as he turned to face Kevin, "And on top of that, you killed an ally of mine!"

Kevin was beginning to become scared. Whatever this man was talking about, he didn't like it. In fact, what he was saying sounded too familiar. Was Kevin going insane?

"Who are you?" the human asked.

The man chuckled, "I find it amusing that you can't tell." he paused, "You've been warned time after time. And yet your stupidity keeps you from knowing whom you are looking at."

Kevin shook his head, "I'll kill you right now."

The man suddenly burst into laughter, and then stopped suddenly, "You can't! I'm a figment. I'm in your head!" He sighed, "I can kill you though, but I'm not. I want to fight you myself. I want to see what you really are. But, nothing says I can't harm you."

All of the sudden, a sharp pain shot through Kevin's body. He fell to the ground and started to pant as energy was being drained from him.

The being walked up to the downed human and kneeled down, "You will regret ever standing against me. I will make you know exactly what revenge is."

A faint voice was then heard, "Kevin!" The sound was so distant that Kevin could hardly hear it.

The man looked up at the blackness that was around the two, "Sounds like your friend found you." he got back to his feet, "I can't see your moves, but the Yuthans… can surely retaliate and end you."

A bright light started to fade in and replace the darkness that was around Kevin. It seemed like the light was moving back and forth. Sounds around him were returning to him. The sounds of wind were heard, ocean waves hitting the ground and splashing were heard, and female voice was heard.

oOoOo

Krystal was kneeling down and holding Kevin in her arms. She was waving a flashlight back and forth in Kevin's face, trying to wake him.

"Kevin!" She yelled, "Wake up!"

The wind was strong, the rain poured, and the waves crashed onto the beach the two were on.

Krystal then checked for a pulse and found nothing. "No…"

She placed Kevin back on the floor and moved to his side. She put one hand on him, and then her other hand on top. With some force, she started to push on Kevin, trying to get him to breathe. She leaned over and began performing CPR. Breathing into Kevin's mouth, she prayed for some sign of life to jump into the human's body. She moved back and began pumping on his chest once more.

Kevin began coughing up water. Some wouldn't leave his throat, so his body panicked and shot up quickly. The water shot out and Kevin was thrown out of his unconscious state. He shook his head and slowly regained his vision, however the intense rain and wind made it difficult.

Krystal grabbed the human and squeezed him tightly from behind. Kevin was somewhat startled until he looked back and saw the vixen. He was breathing quickly and deeply, trying to catch his breath.

The rain was now dropping a bit lighter. The waves were still crashing on the sand in front of Kevin. The water would reach his feet and then recceed back into the ocean.

"What the hell happened?" He asked.

Krystal released him and moved over to his side a bit more, "We were shot down."

Kevin looked at her, "How?!"

She shook her head, "Lighting. The bolts must have fried the Arwing systems." She then turned back and looked down the cove they were sitting on. On the other end were two Arwings ablaze.

Kevin slowly got up to his feet, "Son of a bitch, that's the third one already."

Krystal chuckled, "Don't think anything of it."

Kevin watched as the rain poured down onto the distant machines. The fires were starting to die down.

"Let's look around and find shelter." She said, "The communicator's don't work so we have to wait for the others to realize we're missing."

Kevin looked down at his wrist communicator and saw that it was completely off. The screen was black and nothing happened when he swiped and tapped it.

"Damn" he said, "Where the hell are we going to find shelter? It's the middle of the night and all we have is the moon to light our way. On top of that, the wind and rain are ridiculous."

Krystal shrugged and looked towards the tree line. She thought of something, but it wouldn't help much.

"Let's try moving through the island. Maybe we can hide under a tree to keep us dry." She said.

Kevin nodded and started to head off for the edge of the trees. He reached down to his side and de holstered his pistol. His flight suit wasn't as fancy as his armor, so he had to wear a holster for his gun. He pointed it out in front of him and began to walk through the forest with Krystal in tow. He then grabbed his large bladed knife from it's holster on his left thigh and held it up under his pistol.

After ten minutes of trekking through the forest, they noticed the rain was letting up completely along with the wind. The trees were now swaying gently in the now cool and slow breeze and the water ceased falling on top of them. However, something in the distance sounded like more rain was coming.

Kevin sighed, "Oh god, another storm coming in" he said at the sound of the rumble.

Krystal stopped and listened closely at the constant noise, "That's not a storm" She said, "It sounds like a waterfall."

Kevin stopped and listened. She was right, it sounded just like a waterfall. In fact it sounded like it was in the direction they were headed in. "Hey" he said, "It's just this way."

The two continued trekking through the dense forest until they reached an enormous opening. About several meters away was the base of a waterfall. It was huge and looked like it was coming from the top of the mountain side. The moon light was strong and the water sparkled in the blue hued light.

"Whoa" Kevin said as he saw the large water fall. The water rushed down all the way to a wide stream that ran right next to the two. On either side of them were other large mountains. They found themselves in a valley.

Krystal looked at the rushing waterfall, "Incredible"

As Kevin slowly looked up the waterfall, he noticed something odd. About halfway up, there was a small hole in the mountain behind the falls. Kevin moved out of the tree line and into the opening near where the waterfall landed into the wide stream. The mist was surrounding him as he looked up and found a hole behind the waterfall; a big one too. Only one thought ran through his mind, sanctuary. To make things better, a small ledge of rock extended out a few inches all the way to the small cave. He scanned over and found that he and Krystal could easily get up to the cave just by climbing and moving along the small natural ledges. It wasn't very high up, just high enough for them to easily get back down when needed.

He walked back to where she was standing.

"There's a cave about halfway up this water fall!" he yelled over the noise of the falls, "We can climb up on these small ledges and get inside the cave for shelter!"

Krystal nodded and the two walked for the first ledge that was closest to the ground.

"Be careful!" She yelled as Kevin jumped up and grabbed the small ledge. He began to moved left and closer to the next ledge, which was a bit higher up than the previous. He used all his strength to pull himself up to reach it. Once he did, he continued moving towards the falls. The two continued moving without flaw. Quickly, and in no time, Kevin reached the opening of the cave. He grabbed the edge of it and slowly pulled himself up. Thankfully, the rushing water was falling about five feet out from the cave entrance, so Kevin was safe from being pushed down by the immense pressure of the falls.

Kevin pulled himself up and stood up inside the cave. It was rather large, it was about 30 feet deep, and when you entered, it got to about 20 feet wide.

Panting from the strength he used to move along the ledges, he spoke "That was crazy" he said to himself. He then leaned his head out of the cave. He found Krystal sidling along and held his hand out. She extended her left paw further towards Kevin and grabbed the humans hand. He then grabbed a small stalagmite that was next to him and used it for leverage. He leaned further out and tightened his grip on Krystal's hand.

When her hand was now in the area of the cave entrance, she slipped.

"Aaahh!" She yelled as she fell but was caught by Kevin.

Keeping his grasp on her hand as she hung from the edge of the cave, Kevin began to pull her up.

"I got you Krys, don't worry!" he yelled.

He slowly pulled her up until she was able to grab the ledge with her right hand. At that point, Kevin had pulled her inside completely. Both of them using their strength to get her inside the cave caused the two to fall over. Krystal landed on top of Kevin and he landed on his back.

His hands flew back as he was breathing deeply from exhaustion. He was tired. His energy was taken from him when he had nearly drowned, and even more when they climbed up to the cave they were now in.

Krystal slowly looked up to the human's face and smiled. Kevin smiled back and attempted to get up. Krystal moved off and sat up, facing the rushing water that was just outside the cave.

Kevin sighed, "We made it" he looked behind him into the cave, "Kinda roomy in here"

Krystal looked back as well, "I'm surprised it's this big. I wouldn't have guessed it to be so large."

Kevin got up to his feet and walked further into the cave. It was about 10 feet high, so the two were able to walk freely without interference with the cave ceiling.

The short, yet wide and long cave was in fact roomy. The further to two went in, the warmer it was. At the back of the cave, was a small hole that had water seeping through it. The water falling from the edge of the mountain found its way down through the hole and into the cave. The water ran along the floor through a tiny channel it cut through the rock and all the way out of the cave.

"So" Kevin said, hearing his voice echo, "How long do you think it'll be until the team see's we've gone missin?"

Krystal shrugged and sighed, "I'm not too sure. I do hope that they notice right away."

Kevin sat down against the rock wall. It wasn't very comfortable, but it was something that they had to do with.

The human was getting a sense of exhaustion throughout his body. So much happened in so little, and one of these things was nearly dieing. As he was sitting against the wall, he felt his eyes start to droop.

"I think we need to get some rest." He said as he looked at Krystal, whom was sitting right next to him, "I'm absolutely exhausted." The crash and near drowning took so much out of the teenage human.

Krystal nodded, "I agree" she said in a subtle tone, "We can scan the area in the morning. Maybe the communicators will work by then."

Kevin nodded, "I hope so"

Krystal then laid down. She leaned over and laid down right onto Kevin's legs. He looked down at the vixen and didn't object. The vixen slowly drifted into sleep as she laid on Kevin's lap. Kevin as well, soon drifted off into sleep. The sound of the water rumbling was soothing and slowly lulled the human to sleep.

It was weird; they had been "shot" out of the sky by mere lightning. That somewhat confused Kevin. They were in highly advanced fighters, yet they were struck down by some weather. That didn't sit too well with Michelson. However, all he could really think of was sleeping for the time he had. Tomorrow, the two would head out and scan the area on foot.

_To Be Continued…_

See? Further enhance their friendship.

I hope you guys enjoyed this one. This one took a lot of thinking power in terms of detail and discussion.

Leave a review and tell me what you thought. Also, I hope you guys enjoyed the one shot i posted. I know it's on a manner that most people do not like reading, and I apologize for that.

The update is posted on the blog

Merry Christmas… Happy Hanukkah… and Happy Holidays to everyone. I'm on break so next chapter shouldn't take long at all! *high fives*. Chapter 5 should be up by Saturday! *high fives again* WInter Break is awesome.

Until next time...


	6. It's Them

_Hey guys, Im sorry for the slight delay in posting. I had so much to do over the week (even though i could have sworn i wouldn't need to). Anyway, let's keep the book going, shall we?_

_On with the story!_

**It's Them…**

_2 Days Until Contact…_

Sunlight from Solar began to shine over the horizon of Aquas. The light seeped through the waterfall and into the cave in which Kevin and Krystal were resting. The human budged slightly at the bright light shining on his face. He groaned and slowly moved his hands to shield his face from the blinding light. He yawned and stretched.

"Fuck, my back is killing me" The human exclaimed quietly as he stretched. He looked down and saw Krystal lying her head on his lap, sleeping.

He sat back against the wall and looked out in front towards the cave entrance. He knew exactly what to do now: finish the mission.

He looked back at his vixen friend, "Krys" he said softly, "Krys!" slightly louder this time.

The vixen started to move. As she did, Kevin began to shake her slightly.

"Krys, we have to move. Fox and the others are probably in atmosphere." Kevin exclaimed.

Krystal finally began to sit up. Slowly, she went into a sitting position and yawned. She looked over at the human and smiled, "Good morning to you too."

Kevin chuckled slightly, feeling nice and rested, he stood up to his feet. "Come on" he said as he held his hand out to the vixen, "we have to get out of here and find out where the signal came from."

Understandingly, Krystal nodded and took Kevin's hand. She was lifted to her feet and stretched.

Kevin walked to the edge of the cave and thought of an easier way of getting down. The stream that the water rushed down into was wide and deep. A jump from their height wouldn't at all be bad, in fact it'd be the safest. Say if one of them slipped while exiting the cave and fell to the hard ground below. That was a chance Kevin didn't want to take.

"We're jumping" Kevin said as he looked back at Krystal. She was walking towards him.

Her eyes widened, "Excuse me?"

Kevin nodded, "We're jumping, it's the quickest and safest way down."

Krystal didn't like the idea at all.

"Look" Kevin explained, "The water should be nice and cool enough to shock into an awake state." He joked.

"Haha very funny Kevin. I don't think jumping is such a good idea."

Michelson was one to have odd mood changes. He can serious as hell one moment, and then fun the next. This time, he was feeling fun.

"Suit yourself" He said with a shrug. He then turned back and jumped from the cave entrance. He didn't jump out, rather he just kind of fell in between the rushing water and the mountain side.

Krystal watched as the human jumped. She shook her head in disbelief, "Oh Kevin"

The human landed in the water below. He looked up and saw where the water landed. He swam out and to the other end of where the water crashed down. He surfaced and looked up at the water.

"Krystal!" He yelled, "It's okay, you can jump!"

Suddenly, the vixen surfaced from the water right in front of him. He was a bit startled and swam back slightly.

She smiled, "Hmm, i guess you were right." she said as she brushed her blue hair back from her face.

Kevin nodded, "What I tell you?"

He then started to swim towards the edge of the water. He had a new objective in his mind.

When he exited the water he turned back and found Krystal in tow.

"New plan" He said, "I don't think we plan on attacking whatever it is that's giving the signal. So, we're going to head back to the Arwings and get my sniper."

Krystal shook off some excess water and nodded, "Okay, let's just hope the fire didn't damage it."

The two then headed back in the direction of the cove they had crashed on. While they trecked, Kevin began to question what had been releasing the signals. Ever since he heard that something strange was coming from Aquas, he had a bad feeling in his gut. He didn't know exactly what it was about, but he knew, somehow, something big was going to happen. Something was going to happen that would change him. He didn't know what, but he knew.

Krystal was catching Kevin's thoughts as they journeyed through the thick forest. She couldn't help but feel the same emotion that Kevin was feeling. Something big was going to happen, and soon.

-oOo-

The Yuthans are incredibly advanced. With weapons unlike anything seen, knowledge that surpaces nearly every race in existance, and an ability that is beyond powerful. Prometheus, the leader of the Yuthan species, was the only one capable of using this power to its fullest extent. The power itself was something that he could do only once, and he had been saving its use for the day he really needed it. Now that Kevin is confirmed alive, and that he still is causing trouble for the Yuthans, Prometheus was ready for his power. His plan was foolproof and couldn't fail.

"The day of Kevin's demise is near" Prometheus spoke to himself in his large other dimensional quarters, "I will have him as a trophy, and I will stop him from ruining any more plans of mine."

Suddenly, a white portal formed low below where Prometheus was. The black room soon faded to a scene of space. A red path began to form towards the portal down below. Along with that, faint steps began to move in and lead up to Prometheus.

A small, petite being walked through the portal. He moved along the red path and ended at the beginning of the steps. he being went down into a knee and bowed his head.

"Sir, I bring news from the front." The man said.

Prometheus turned around and stood up. He walked to the first step and looked down at the loyal man, "Proceed"

THe being then began to climb the steps. Prometheus sat back down in his "throne". It was a chair like thing, only it was made of light.

"Sir" the being said as he looked at the avian headed leader, "I have just been informed that two foreign ship signatures were detected over our base."

Prometheus nodded, "Interesting, were these taken care of?"

The being nodded, "Yes sir, the experimental device we are developing to control the weather here was used. The planet we are on is much smaller than Cotera, the device worked like a charm and we were able to quickly eliminate the two ships."

Prometheus nodded slowly, "Excellent, excellent" He said, "What of the inhabitants of the system? Have they taken any suspicion?"

The being nodded, "Yes, the oracle that is with the Yuthans on the planet informed them that the inhabitants are beginning to worry."

Prometheus nodded once more, "Not perfect, but all the better. If we cannot perform operations without staying hidden, it is all well. Their forces wouldn't be able to handle even the smaller platoon on their planet."

The being chuckled, "Aye sir" he paused, "The platoon also informed us of a shortage of Siofarium. Apparently, their experimental suits are malfunctioning and they need a shipment of the element to repair the few suits."

Prometheus stood up from his light chair, "Send them their supplies. However, warn them that it may compromise the entire mission. The completion is rested on their heads if they choose for the shipment to be sent out."

The being nodded and headed back for the white portal.

Prometheus rested back down on his throne, "I fear that the inhabitants will interfere." he said to himself.

Suddenly, a holodisplay appeared in front of him. He used it to contact a group of very special people, The Oracles of Cotera. They were a group of ten elders, the oldest Yuthans, who were gifted with the ability to predict futures with 100% accuracy. Not all Yuthan had this ability, only some received, and some mastered; these were the Oracles.

"Prometheus" one said as a feed of nine individuals appeared, "We expected to hear from you at this moment."

Prometheus smiled and nodded, "I knew you would say that." He then paused, "I have been given word that the inhabitants of Michelsons home system are beginning to grow suspicious." he stated, "What do you see? Is war inevitable?"

The nine individuals closed their eyes and waited for a few minute. Once it passed, they opened. The older looking one spoke, "War is inevitable. We can see a battle take place at the base. We cannot see who it is that causes the battle."

Prometheus quickly caught on to it and saw a connection right then and there, "Michelson!"

The oldest sat back slightly, emotionless, "Explain?"

Prometheus, now a bit worried, spoke fast, "You have already said that Michelsons moves were unable to be seen."

The eldest nodded, but mid nod, he stopped and looked at the leader, realising what he was saying, "Very good, Prometheus"

The screen faded and Prometheus smiled, "I finally caught you"

He jumped from his platform and landed on the red path below. He then began to sprint for the spot in which the portal was.

-oOo-

"I got it!" Kevin yelled as he was looking through the badly damaged storage compartment of the Arwing.

He was able to pull out his ZSR-145 and examine it.

Krystal walked up to him, "Incredible, it still looks perfectly fine."

Kevin looked down the sight, the digital scope attached did not work, but the zoom seemed to be in perfect order. Aside from that, the weapons wasn't scratched, nor altered in appearance. The storage compartment on the Arwing is very sturdy and designed to stay safe during a crash.

The human smiled, "Alright, let's head up to a mountain top and find out what's out there on this island."

The two were off. After several minutes of hiking, they found a small opening and a sight that did not please them at all. The very small clearing led out to a steep, 90 degree ledge, leading to nothing but trees below. However, the two were very high above the ground, and could see almost the entire island in between the two major mountains, all the way to the other end of the land mass.

"My god" Kevin said in shock.

He slowly got down into prone and released the bipod on his ZSR. He looked through his scope and down at the complex near the middle of the island. Several buildings with odd markings that did not resemble Corneria Defense Force logos scattered the area. Kevin zoomed in and found groups of heavily armored beings walking to and fro.

"My word" Krystal said as she laid down next to Kevin.

Suddenly, Kevin's comm unit began to crackle to life. Static began to play. As soon as it began to crackle, two ships began to hover up into view.

"Turn it off!" Krystal quickly said.

Kevin was beginning to panic as the two ships were heading in their direction. He was tapping the screen, yet it was lagging by several seconds.

"Come on, come on!" Kevin said. He finally got it to shut off. The ships passed right over the two and they ducked their heads down. The ships were small, about the size of an Arwing.

"Oh my god" Kevin said as he looked back behind him, "I think Fox is trying to contact us."

Krystal nodded, "We need to leave."

All of the sudden, an alarm began to sound. It was very faint as the base was far from Kevin and Krystal's position. The human looked through the scope again and found everyone scattering. Running around and some to buildings.

"Oh no…" Kevin said in despair, "_Now _we need to go."

The two quickly shot up to their feet and ran back into the woods. Krystal had her pistol in hand and ready for anything to pop out of the woods. Kevin was running, ready to raise his rifle and fire at anyone, regardless of range.

As they were running down the mountain, they heard voices yelling in the distance. They ran out of the tree cover and into the opening that was the cove they had crashed on. Kevin stopped immediately when he saw a small group of three armored men at the other end of the cove.

"OVER THERE!" One yelled as he pointed to Krystal and Kevin.

Kevin quickly shot back, "Shit!"

Krystal and Kevin jumped behind a pile of rocks and used it as cover. Almost immediately after they jumped, lasers began to fly past them.

"Fox! Fox come in!" Kevin yelled as he attempted to get his comm line to work, "Fox, god damnit, answer!"

The static cleared slightly and the voice of the vulpine was heard, "Kevin! Wh..e… are… guys"

"Southwest end of the island of interest. But hurry! We have a small group firing on us and an even bigger group on their way!"

Kevin put his snipe down and pulled his pistol out. He quickly shot over the rocks and fired at the three troops, whom were slowly walking towards the rock pile. He landed clean shots on one of the troops, yet he was barely fazed. The trooper merely flinched, but continued firing.

"Son of a bitch their armor's too thick!" Kevin yelled as he ducked back behind the cover.

Krystal shot over and fired, then ducked back.

"Where's Fox?!" She asked.

Kevin shook his head, "I have no clue! He just asked where we were and the comm died."

Lasers continued to fly past the cover in which they were behind. They were blue and white and were rather bright. They whizzed past at blazing speeds and almost tore through the rock corners.

Kevin grabbed his sniper and thought of a plan. He could pop out and use the incredibly powerful rifle to hit the armored hostiles. Liking the idea, he grabbed the rifle and readied himself.

"See ya!" He yelled as he jumped out from the cover and fired at the center troop. The red beam struck the troops chest hard and knocked him down off his feet and onto the ground. The other two ceased fire and jumped to the side.

The sniper charged again and Kevin ducked back behind. The red light, indicating that the weapon was not ready, soon turned green, indicating that it could now fire. Kevin jumped back out and hit the left troop as he was getting up. He was knocked back to the ground. As he hit him, the third guard broke into a full on sprint towards Kevin.

"Oh boy" Kevin said. He raised the sniper and prayed for it to show green. However it didn't. The trooper jumped and kicked the weapon out of Kevin's hand. He then threw a punch and landed a clean hit to Kevin. He stumbled back but was able to keep balance.

Kevin held his face and wiped the blood from his nose. It was seeping slightly and running down his lip and cheek.

"Huh" Kevin said, "You must have a death wish, Yuthan."

The masked troops then ran for Kevin again. However, he was slightly knocked off balance when Krystal fired several clean shots. Kevin ran and landed a good kick to the downed Yuthan's stomach. The man rolled over and shot up to his feet.

"You disgusting human!" The Yuthan hissed.

Krystal then came in and landed and clean close line to his face. She then shook her fist in pain as she just stuck hard armor. He spun and landed on the ground. But, again, he got up to his feet. The Yuthan then reached behind him and pulled out a blade. He then pressed a small button on the side: the edges then lit up and started to whir.

Kevin thought, "An energy blade?"

The man charged for the two. Kevin dodged the first slash and landed and good jab to the being's stomach. Kevin was using his robotic fist as he was not armored and couldn't really land good hits against an armored hostile. He brought it around and landed and good hit on the being. He was knocked back greatly and almost lost balance. As the Yuthan was stumbling, Kevin grabbed his sniper and brought it up. Krystal ran to his side.

"Got ya" Kevin said.

The Yuthan stopped and caught himself from falling.

"What is your kind doing here?" Kevin asked with authority in his voice.

The Yuthan chuckled, "I'm not talking to you!"

Kevin shrugged, "Fine" he then fired the sniper and landed a good hit on the Yuthans leg. He fell to the ground in pain.

"You wanna talk now?" Kevin asked.

The two other troops then got up to their feet. Kevin aimed at the first and fired when the light turned green. The troop fell to the ground with blood seeping through the armor. He then pulled his pistol and repeatedly shot the other guard, buying time for the sniper to charge again. Once it was charged, he fired and killed the other guard.

"I think they're over here!" a voice was heard in the distance.

Kevin looked at Krystal, "We need to hide"

He looked back at the downed Yuthan and fired at his head when the sniper was green. Krystal turned away in horror as the beam hit the Yuthan's head. Kevin grabbed her shoulder and began running to some trees with her. The two dropped down into prone and waited for the other troops to get out into the opening.

A large group of about ten came running out and into the cove. However, right as they were all out on the opening, a barrage of lasers bombarded the area. Two Arwings flew by after the explosions stopped. Krystal and Kevin watched in pure relief. They had been found and were going to be saved.

Kevin looked out over the water and found a transport flying in.

"Come on!" Kevin said as he helped Krystal up. The two then ran from the tree line and over to the transport. It had landed not far from the edge of the trees. The door opened slowly and revealed Rose yelling. She had a pistol in her hand and was signaling for the Krystal and Kevin.

"Hurry!" She yelled.

The two quickly ran up and into the transport. Slippy, whom was piloting, closed the doors and took off back to the sky.

"Everyone buckle up!" Slippy said.

Kevin looked out the window and saw the two Arwings join formation with the transport. He then saw a small squad of fighters fly after them.

"Uh-oh" He said. He then went up to the cockpit, "We're being chased."

Slippy looked at the radar, "No we're not. The radar's clean."

Suddenly the ship shook violently.

"I stand corrected."

Kevin then sat down in the copilot seat and opened up the turret controls.

"Fox, Falco, this is Kevin. We have a squad of three fighters flying after us. Don't rely on your radar, they're using stealth systems."

"I see 'em" Falco replied.

The turret systems were operational and Kevin had full control.

"Let's have some fun" He said, "Fox, Falco, I have control of the turret. Watch yourselves."

Falco chuckled, "How bout you just watch where you shoot, okay?"

Kevin looked around and found one of the ships heading straight for the transport. He opened fire and hit the ship several times, forcing to break off.

"These guys have some crazy armor, the Arwing's weapons hardly pierce it!" Fox said.

Kevin shook his head, "Damn Yuthans"

He continued firing at the other ships as they flew towards the transport. Slippy was flying rather good. When they neared Great Fox, he readied the landing sequence.

"We're landing" Slippy said, "Keep them off us while we get inside."

"I'll take off as soon as we land" Kevin said.

The transport went through the back entrance of the Great Fox and was taken down to the main ship bay. When it was locked in, just below the Arwing's, Kevin ran out and into the elevator. He took it up to where the Arwing's were suspended and jumped into Slippy's.

"Peppy" Kevin said, "Release the lift lock, i'm going out to help."

The old hare was quick, "Already done, just start it up and you'll launch."

The engines whirred to life and the systems inside the Arwing all started up. As soon as it was up and going, the Arwing lowered slightly.

"Launching…" Peppy said over the comms, "...3...2...1."

The Arwing then shot out of the ship bay and into space. It spun wildly and released the wings. Kevin was in full control and headed for Fox, Falco, and the enemy ships.

He opened fire on one ship that was tailing Falco. He landed so many hits that the ship started to spin out of control.

"Fox, finish this one." Kevin said as he broke off.

Fox then swooped in and continued to fire at the spinning craft. It exploded into a fiery explosion after multiple hits. Kevint then headed for another that was attempting to go after Fox. He charged the Arwing's laser and locked onto the enemy ship. He fired the charged bolt of energy and hit the ship dead on. He then released a flurry of laser fire upon the ship, causing it to explode.

"Kev, you go on your tail!" Falco said.

Kevin looked behind him and found that he was in fact being chased. He barrel rolled several times and deflected the lasers coming from the highly advanced enemy fighter. However, the lasers weren't completely deflected. They were so powerful that they were simply dampened, yet still damaged the Arwing.

"What? My shields went down!" Kevin said in shock, "That barrel roll should have deflected those shots."

Kevin continued moving left and right as he was getting a warning of being locked onto.

"Falco, get him off me!"

"I'm trying!"

The avian fired and landed a few hits on the enemy, knocking him off aim. Kevin then took a deep breath; he was about to try something very dangerous. He U-Turned sharply and headed straight for the enemy ship. He had a split second, with incredible speed, he fired several times at the enemy ship, landing each shot. He then quickly pulled up, barely avoiding a head on collision. This all happened in a matter of milliseconds. The damage done to the enemy ship was enough to cause it to spiral.

"Take it!" Kevin said as he headed for it and fired.

Fox and Falco did so as well and unleashed their flurry of laser fire. In no time did the enemy ship explode.

"Great job" Fox said, "Let's get back to Great Fox."

The three then headed back for Great Fox, which was on course for Corneria. The three didn't land, instead they stayed outside in case any other ships began to chase after them.

Although the other pilots were relieved, Michelson was far from it. Those symbols he saw, the ships; all of it led to one thing.

He sighed, "I can't fucking believe this…"

Fox looked confused, "What's wrong?"

Kevin shook his head, "I can't believe I was this stupid! How the fuck does something like this get passed someone?!" The human was becoming grieved at how ignorant he had been. What was he thinking? A group just trying to run him out? No, the so called Yuthans are real!

"Kevin, what are you talking about?" Falco asked.

Michelson took a deep breath, "I should have said something earlier." he paused, "It's the Yuthans…"

Fox was a bit stunned, "What?"

Kevin shook his head, "You heard me, the Yuthans. They're real, and I didn't say crap about it when I first heard the damn name." He slammed his fist on the dash and exhaled, "War is coming, and it's my god damn fault…"

_To Be Continued…_

Sorry about the language in this last part.

Happy New Year everyone! This year is going to be full of stuff! We have the Smash Fic after this book, the release of the animation at the end of this year, the one shot collection, the somewhat thought of Star Fox fan fic, and more! I can't wait!

Please leave a review and tell me what you thought of this chapter. Get ready for more in depth stuff as we near The Encounter. Oh boy, this is gonna be epic.

Until Next Time :)

Update is now on blog!


	7. Encounter

_Hey guys, the One Shot Collection is being put on hold for now. I have this idea in my head, and it's something I feel is both perfect, but risky. Because of it, I have to halt work on the collection until I can still write it with perfect sense. _

_On with the Story…_

**Encounter**

Two days past after Krystal and Kevin had discovered the enemy base on Aquas. Upon arrival to Corneria, Kevin immediately spoke with Pepper about the potential threat. However, to Kevin's demise, Pepper explained that the Defense Force is not to make violence, but to prevent and keep from it. Action would only be taken if necessary, however warnings have gone out to the Yuthan base.

The day of encounter, Kevin is found in the gym, working out with his friend Fox. Kevin focuses on his speed in the training room and punching bag, while Fox focuses on his strength.

"Hia!" The human yells as he repeatedly kicks and punches the bag that is before him. He punches repeatedly, lands jump kicks, and high kicks, as well as practice tackles. He works up a sweat as he is helped and trained by the gym's own trainer.

"Come on Michelson" The trainer, whom is a rather muscular racoon, says in an authoritative tone, "I've done this with McCloud countless times, I wanna see you do better!"

The human then lets all out and moves as fast as he can. After he finishes throwing left and right hooks, he tackles the dangling bag and throws the trainer off balance.

"Whoa" The coon exclaimed as he fell back.

Michelson came around the bag and helped the coon up to his feet, "Lemme help you up" he said.

The coon got up to his feet and dusted himself, "Not bad" he said with a smile, "Not bad at all"

The human smiled at the compliment, "Thanks, you're a pretty good trainer yourself."

The coon nodded once and smiled.

Kevin grabbed his towel and wiped his face clean of his sweat. He then grabbed his water bottle, took a large drink from it, and headed out of the room he was in.

"Thanks Mark" Kevin said as he was headed for the door.

"No problem kid" The racoon replied.

"I'll see you back at the estate, Fox."

The vulpine nodded as he was lifting a weight.

Michelson walked out to his CTZ and started it up. He was tired and hot. As soon as he was in, he started the AC and drove off back to the estate. While driving back, he thought about the date he had went on with Rose when he got back from Aquas. The movie they had went to see was good: the acting was great, script was fantastic, and the story was thrilling. The couple had special feelings for each other, so much that Kevin began to decide on something that would change his life. He had begun to think about asking Rose for her hand in marriage; in fact he had already bought the engagement ring. He thought of almost no reason as to why he shouldn't ask her, he only thought of the reasons why he should.

He sighed, "I hope she says yes." He then held up the small velvet lined box. However, there was one thought keeping him from doing so, the fact that war was coming.

He drove up the driveway of the team estate and exited his vehicle. He went up into the house and straight to his room. He was set on taking a shower.

After Michelson washed down and clothed himself back into his normal attire, he walked down to the living area. Sitting there was Krystal and Rose. Kevin took a seat next to Rose and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"How was your workout?" She asked.

Kevin chuckled, "Not bad actually, the trainer's pretty good."

Krystal chimed in, "Mark? Oh yes, he's excellent. He does know his way to a great workout."

Kevin nodded, "And he kicked my ass while I was there. I'm not used to a trainer with his high expectations."

Rose chuckled and cuddled the human, "I'm sure he wasn't all that bad."

"It wasn't that he was 'bad', just he kicked my ass."

The holo t.v screen suddenly switched over to a picture of the Cornerian Defense Force Logo. It was unexpected and caught Kevin a bit off guard.

"Whoa" he said as he grabbed the remote, "What happened to the t.v?"

Suddenly, Pepper appeared on the screen.

"General Pepper" Kevin said, "What a surprise."

The old hound gave a nod and smile, "I'm sorry if I interrupted with anything, but I bring some rather important news."

The three friends all looked at each other and then back at the display. They were curious to hear what Pepper had to say.

"What seems to be the problem?" Michelson asked.

Pepper fixed his cap and spoke, "After your discovery of this once rumored race taking shelter on Aquas, we discovered something very suspicious. Today, it was brought to my attention that an unknown ship signature with readings unlike anything ever seen was detected entering Lylat."

Kevin tilted his head and sat forward, "A ship signature?" This worried him greatly, "Do you think it's the Yuthans? Maybe they're trying to attack or something."

Pepper shook his head, "We ran a diagnostic on it. The signature did not match that of the craft seen on Aquas."

Krystal spoke up, "So you're saying this is a completely new threat?"

"Not necessarily."

Kevin nodded his head, "What do you need us to do?"

Pepper cleared his throat, "Right" he paused, "A small squad of fighters are already in orbit in case this ship nears Corneria. I want you up there in case this ship turns out to be hostile."

The human shrugged, "Seems easy enough. One ship against a team of mercenaries and a squad from the defense force."

Pepper nodded, "Good, I see you are missing a few. Relay the instructions to them and get to it."

Kevin stood up and nodded with a somewhat sloppy, yet professional salute. He brought his hand up to his forehead in a salute and quickly shot it back down in form, "We're on it"

As soon as the t.v cut out, Kevin contacted Fox, Falco, and Slippy, leaving a message, "We got a new job. Meet at Great Fox, we're taking off to help out a squad. Something's coming into Lylat."

With that he looked at his two female friends and smiled, "Let's get going."

Without hesitating, the three headed out to Kevin's CTZ. It wasn't a desperate mission, but it still was pretty serious. A unidentified ship entering Lylat at the same time a rumored race was in fact already in the system can raise a bunch of red flags. Corneria was already on the verge of war, with the forces already readied for an attack on them.

"Once we get there, Rose, you head up to the bridge. Peppy is away on vacation and I really would hate to bother him. You're going to have to man the comms by yourself with ROB." Kevin said.

Rose smiled joyously, "Peppy and Slippy showed me so much of it already. I can handle it with ease." 

"Krystal, do you know if our Arwing's are already inside the ship?"

The vixen nodded, "Yes, I believe they were delivered yesterday."

Kevin smiled, "Great"

The human turned into the base in which Great Fox was being held. He drove through and up to the elevator entrance. The three got out of the vehicle and right into the elevator, which took them up to the level in which the landing bay could be accessed.

"Ah" a worker said as he walked up to the three, "We were told you'd be arriving. Your's and Krystal's Arwing's are all prepped and good to go for future missions. But Beltino would like me to tell you to please be more careful with these ones. He says it's a lot of money and work into making these and the backups."

Michelson chuckled guiltily, "Yeah, could you tell him that we're both sincerely sorry. We weren't expecting an attack or weather for that matter."

The worker nodded with a smile and left. With that, the three mercenaries continued and walked along the bridge extending into the upper level of Great Fox's landing bay. Kevin saw his and Krystal's Arwings all set and ready to go.

"Head up to your rooms and suit up in your flight suits."

Michelson was excited for this mission, however he was also greatly frightened by it. What if this vessel were to turn out to be hostile? This would only add on to the impending war Lylat is to face. All that went through Kevin's mind was hope that this alien craft turned out to be friendly and not a foe, and the question of why the Yuthans have not began any attacks.

Michelson had his white flight suit on and ready. His spare that was kept on Great Fox was in perfect condition. He grabbed his pistol that he had kept since the war against Wolf and placed it in his holster. If the ship lands, he'll need something to protect himself with.

-oOo-

"Sir" a voice said, "We're approaching the planet."

A yellow and brown furred creature walked through the small transport and into the cockpit. He looked out ahead and saw a large blue planet being illuminated by two bright stars.

He smiled, "Good, it looks like we're in time to warn them."

"Ratchet!" A voice was heard from the back, "Get back here"

The creature left the cockpit and back into the loading bay of the transport, "What is it Neal?"

A grey furred creature of same origin spoke, "How in the hell do you think we're going to present ourselves? I think we should have thought this through a bit earlier."

The being referred to as Ratchet scratched his head, "Okay, first of all, I don't think these guys are just going to open fire on some random ship, second of all we're not going out with our weapons or armor. If that's what you thought, then maybe you're getting a case of cabin fever."

Neal raised an eyebrow, "Are you implying that I'm going crazy?"

Ratchet shrugged, "You're the one that thought we were going out with everything in hand." he said jokingly.

A younger creature walked up to the two, "Knock it off guys. Come on now, we're about to see another alien race that is on the verge of an unwinnable war. Show some professionalism."

Ratchet chuckled, "Alright, alright, Dylan." He then got the attention of the other creature on board with him, "Okay everyone! Listen! We're gonna land soon, so I want everyone's weapons away and their armor away. When we land we walk out nice and slowly and I'll speak with the leader, if they speak English."

The others nodded and all of their suits of armor disappeared and into their belts. They were a variety of colors and shades. Either a shade of orange or white with maroon or brown stripes. They resembled cat's but had fingers and longer ears.

Dylan, the younger one, grabbed Ratchet's shoulder slightly, "Do you really think we can help this race? I mean, we had one hell of time fighting the technology of Paletan, maybe the little Lombax tech we have isn't enough to counter the new enemies."

Ratchet shook his head, "I really don't know. But, chances are this enemy doesn't have weapons like ours."

Neal, whom already sat back down, began to look around the small room quickly. It was true, he was going a bit insane after being in the transport for so long. It wasn't a maniacal insane where he could just kill everyone, but an insane where he could just punch the walls out to get some space. He wasn't a very big fan of confined spaces, in fact you could even call him claustrophobic.

Ratchet walked back to the front of the ship and into the cockpit. The Lombax pilot was looking down at the radar intently after some blips began to appear.

"What's that?" Ratchet asked.

The Lombax pilot typed a few commands and spoke, "It's the people of this planet. Looks like they have ships."

Ratchet looked out ahead of him and could make out the ships as dots. There weren't many, about ten of them.

"Hm" the orange Lombax said, "If you're thinking about activating the weapons, don't. The last thing we need is these people seeing our guns out."

The pilot gave a single nod.

-oOo-

"Oh boy, here they come." Kevin said as he looked down at the radar.

Fox raised an eyebrow, "Only one?"

Falco chimed in, "I don't think he's alone then."

Kevin switched comm channels, "Squad Delta-76, be advised, the unknown ship is approaching. Do not open fire unless told so." He switched back to the team channel, "Switch over to the squads channel, they'll need to hear this."

The team did so and was now in the open channel.

"Kevin" Fox said, "Why don't you try contacting them and talking."

He was a bit confused, "Why me?"

Fox shrugged, "I don't know. I feel like you'd say the right thing."

Kevin nodded, "Alright then"

Rose cut in, "Okay hun, the channel is all set." She was on Great Fox managing the comms line.

"Krystal" Fox continued, "While Kevin's talking with this guy, scan their ship for anything suspicious. Scan this guys mind and find out exactly why he's here. If he tells us a lie, we take him out."

Krystal smiled and nodded, "Will do"

"Everyone else keep your guard up. We don't know if this guy will just open fire with no reason."

As the ship neared, Kevin began to practice what he would say. After a few seconds of thinking, he decided to wing it in a professional manner.

"Okay, here goes" Kevin said, "Starship signature G7-901, state your reason for entering Lylat and reason for nearing the capitol planet Corneria."

No picture appeared on his HUD, however Kevin's feed was on.

Ratchet looked at the human being with awe, "Huh, skin" he said.

Kevin looked at the feed with a stern and serious face. He wanted to intimidate them, but not too much.

Ratchet nodded, "Keep the feed off. I'm going to see if we can land safely." He paused, "Hi there, look, I'm here with more of my kind. I am wondering if we can land, we've been traveling for some time now and we urgently must speak with whoever is in charge."

Kevin tilted his head in suspicion.

Krystal suddenly spoke, "There's more than one. Around one hundred more!" She paused, "I can't seem to enter the pilots mind. All I can sense is the mixed thoughts of the others inside the transport."

"Fox" Kevin said, "They request a landing."

Fox scratched his head in thought.

"I say we don't let them" Falco cut in, "What if it's a trap."

"Sir" the leader of the Defense Force squad said, "We could land them in the middle of the base. We can have troops surround the ship."

Fox continued the think. After a minute passed, he decided.

"Delta-76 leader, contact Pepper immediately and tell him we need a small force of troops on the airstrip at the Defense Force airfield." Fox finally said, "Kevin, tell them to follow us."

The human nodded, "G7-901, we will escort you to a safe landing zone. Be advised, you will be surrounded upon landing."

Fox spoke up, "Star Fox, lead in the front. Delta-76, take the rear."

Everyone then went into position and began flying towards the planet. Pepper entered a team wide channel.

"Forces are now on stand-by at the airfield. I hope you know what you're doing, Star Fox."

Just like that, the comm channel was cut and back to the open channel.

"Pilot of ship G7-901, only you may exit the ship. If anyone else does, orders will be given to fire."

Ratchet chuckled slightly, "Look, just call me Ratchet."

Kevin raised an eyebrow at the sound of the name. It sounded too familiar to him, almost like he knew it from somewhere not too long ago. However, there were much more important matters at hand, so he disregarded the feeling altogether.

After a few seconds of flying, they entered below cloud level and in the sight of all of Corneria City. They flew all the way down to the main Cornerian Defense Force airstrip. The team landed in the center and advised Delta-76 to land behind the unknown transport. After they had landed, the team jumped out of their ships, along with Delta.

Kevin pulled his pistol and simply had it in hand. He felt something was actually good about this encounter. He didn't know why, but he had a strong feeling that this "Ratchet" meant absolutely no harm.

Within seconds of jumping out of their ships, a large force of Cornerian Defense Force tanks, troops, and ships surrounded the area.

Kevin looked around and was a bit shocked, "Didn't we say a small force?"

Fox shook his head, "Just forget it. Pepper's obviously nervous about us bringing the ship down here." he paused and grabbed his pistol, "Contact them from your communicator, tell the pilot he can exit."

Delta-76 then came around, weapons in hand, next to Star Fox.

Kevin opened the comms channel with 'Ratchet', "Pilot, er, Ratchet, exit the craft. Do so slowly and with your hands in the air."

The main transport door opened. Everyone put their weapons up and aimed at the craft. Inside were a lot more creatures, all with differentiating colors. However one, an orange and brown one, began to walk down the ramp slowly with his hands up. When he reached the ground, Star Fox began to slowly walk towards them.

"Krystal, try scanning his mind again." Fox whispered as they neared Ratchet.

Kevin spoke up, "Ratchet, turn around. Show us exactly what you have."

The Lombax did so and spun around once to show he was unarmed, even though he technically was.

Kevin slowly lowered his weapon as sudden realization hit him. The name, the face, the colors, the ears, the tail, all of it was causing Kevin to flashback to his Earth days. All he saw was a creature with large weapons and a metal robotic companion.

He shook his head and raised his blaster once more. He now was going to confirm his suspicion.

"Weapons, show them." he said, "I know you have a shit load of them."

Ratchet slowly lowered his hands, "I can pull out a small one, just so I don't, uh, scare you."

Kevin shook his head, "No, I can see something in you."

The team looked at him.

Fox whispered, "Kevin, what are you doing?'

The human lowered his pistol and looked at Fox, with three simple words, Fox knew what was happening.

"Alternate… Reality… Theory" Kevin said before he raised his weapons back to the Lombax.

He was thinking. He knew this Lombax and he was relying on chain memory to get something. However, the only thing that appeared in his head was a name. Rhino.

"Um" Kevin said, "Show me… the… Rhino?"

Ratchet's eyes widened and he took a step back. The team moved forward as he did so.

Fox spoke in a loud voice, "Better listen to him."

Ratchet was a bit frightened, yet listened.

"Fine" he said, "But don't say I didn't warn you when I said I didn't want to frighten you."

He brought his hands down. His left went to his side. He brought them back up as if he was holding a large invisible weapon. Suddenly, out of the hilt he was holding, formed a large cannon with multiple barrels. The weapon was orange and had chrome spikes along the edge of the barrels.

Kevin began to chuckle, "Oh my god, I can't believe this." He paused, "Lower your weapons, you too Lombax."

Everyone did so cautiously.

Slippy whispered over to him, "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"A.R.T" Kevin said. At that, Slippy nodded understandingly and looked back at Ratchet.

"So" Kevin said, "What brings you here from Solana, or Polaris, or wherever you were just at?"

Ratchet, now absolutely shocked at the humans knowledge, spoke, "Um, we're here with urgent news."

Fox whispered, "Oh no"

Kevin looked back at the Lombax, "What is it? We're already on the verge of war, what could you possibly have to tell us?"

Ratchet was intrigued, "Wait, a war with who?"

Kevin shook his head, "None of you concern, I must know your news first."

Ratchet shrugged, "We came with the intention of helping you. We just finished a war with an ancient rival, who provided me with some scary intelligence. This system is a target by some race beginning with Yu-." He explained.

"Yuthan" Kevin said as he lowered his head, "How far is your system?"

Ratchet shrugged, "I don't know. But we had to steal technology from a more advanced race to get here. That's how far we are."

Kevin shook his head, "Dear god the Yuthans are huge. Did you encounter them during your battles?"

Ratchet shook his head, "No, just Paletans. But I was told that they are in fact an immense force."

Kevin turned back to the others. All of his fears were confirmed, "We need to get to Pepper. We have to tell him about this." He looked back, "Ratchet, you're coming with us. You can ride in my ship with me, and hurry!"

Kevin knew what to do. They needed to take out the Yuthans already in Lylat so they can prepare.

Fox yelled at the forces, "Stand down!" He said, "They're friendly!" He looked at the human, "You go and take Ratchet to Pepper, we'll clear out these guys and meet up with you."

Kevin and Ratchet began to run for the Arwing. Kevin jumped up into the cockpit and helped the Lombax up. The Arwing's all had a small space behind the seat for cargo, however it was being improvised to hold Ratchet. Once they were in, they shot off into the sky at incredible speeds until they were just over the General's office building.

The situation Lylat was in was now even worse. The Yuthans were now confirmed to attack, but when?

Using the exterior speakers of the Arwing, Kevin called down to the civilians below to clear away immediately. He landed just outside the building. The two jumped out and sprinted up to the main doors. Kevin burst through with Ratchet right behind him.

"Where's Pepper?" He asked loudly as he was running.

The receptionist quickly replied, "He's in his office-"

"Thanks!" Kevin yelled as he ran passed and into the elevator.

"Uh, but, he's in a meeting!" The receptionist tried yelling, yet with no success.

The two were heading up to the floor in which Pepper was.

On the way up, Ratchet looked at the human and his weapon.

"What is that? Your weapon." Ratchet asked.

Kevin looked to his side, "An illegally modified D-40 blaster. I say illegally because it was made with technology banned from the system. But, it's no where near as advanced as Yuthans."

Ratchet nodded, "How did you know about this race so ahead of time?"

Kevin shook his head, "I was encountered by a criminal who said that I would pay for interfering with Yuthans plan and killing Wolf O'Donnell."

Ratchet nodded, "He must have been the other ally Yuthan had."

Kevin shook his head, "I think we're about to go against a race hell bent on galactic domination."

The elevator doors then opened and Kevin broke out into a full sprint. The two quickly reached General Peppers door and barged in. Inside, Pepper was speaking with several other uniformed men.

Pepper shot up to his feet, "Kevin, what are you doing here?"

Kevin, whom was panting, spoke quickly, "General, I have little to no time to explain what's happening. The Yuthans, they have the intention of war."

Pepper tilted his head, "That does not explain to me why you are here."

Kevin then moved away from the door and allowed Ratchet to enter. Pepper gasped slightly at the sight of the alien.

"Sir" Ratchet said, "I come here with good intentions. My race, the Lombax, are highly intelligent with the best technology out of our galactic neighborhood. I have brought the last one hundred with me to assist with the technology of my home galaxies."

Pepper slowly sat back down, "Why should we trust you?"

Ratchet activated his Trillium armor and spoke, "My technology is at a similar level than yours, but much more exotic. I've seen your weapons, and I've seen your ships. They resemble mine, but my weapons and ships aren't like what you've seen."

Kevin cut in, "Sir, he has an entire arsenal with him as we speak. All concealed as data in his belt. Each one of his guns are massive compared to even the biggest cannon we have."

Pepper nodded slowly.

One of the officers spoke up, "Okay, so what are you proposing?"

Kevin looked at Ratchet and then back at the group of uniformed men, "We need to attack them first. If we can get rid of the small force on Aquas, then we can have some breathing room to actually prepare for the real war. They've already declared war on us since they entered Lylat, we just need to strike first while they're clueless."

Pepper shook his head, "Kevin, I have already said this, this is a defense force. We do not launch offensives unless it is crucial!"

Kevin was shocked, "Sir, this _IS _CRUCIAL! We are about to be at war with a race that is hell bent on galactic domination. And let me tell you, sir, they are CAPABLE of it!"

It was quiet.

Ratchet spoke up after some time passed, "Sir, look, I can help you. I just arrived from my system after fighting an ancient enemy of my kind. Their technology rivaled that of my kind. Ever since the Lombax's fled this dimension, our rivals were advancing. The Paletans, the rivals of my race, and the Lombaxs were the two technological masters. We, a small group of the last 100 Lombaxs, defeated them using the conventional technology against this much higher race. This is simply a repeat with another enemy."

Kevin decided to reveal more about how much he knew of Ratchet, "He's saved three galaxies singlehandedly with little to no help. This man, right here that is before you, saved entire galaxies from full armies. He can help us with his kind, but in order for that to help, we need to attack."

Pepper was silent.

Kevin continued, "If we take out the Yuthans on Aquas, we can focus entirely on research for new weapons and possibly new armor. Look at what Ratchet is wearing, our biggest sniper couldn't penetrate that. On top of this new opportunity, we can get a head start against the Yuthans. They're immense, so we will need all the time we can get."

Pepper sighed, "You're right…" he said, "...gentlemen, I fear that our biggest challenge is now upon us. I know most of you do not like the idea of launching an offensive, but what Kevin and this, uh, Lombax, are saying is beyond anything we can avoid. The public will not approve of this, but we have no choice. Return to your posts and prepare for an offensive on the Yuthan Aquas base. Star Fox, you will accompany a fleet of Dreadnaught II class ships." The hound looked up at Kevin, "At least we can now see what Wolf's technology has brought us with this new class."

The human nodded, "Thank you sir."

He then headed out with Ratchet in tow.

"Wait up" he said, "How in the hell do you know so much about me?"

Kevin shook his head, "For your own good, I can't say. Only more complications will come up from it."

Ratchet shook his head and ran ahead of Kevin to stop him, "No, how do you know?"

Kevin just stood there looking at the Lombax. He stayed silent for a second and decided to speak.

"The most I can say is Alternate Reality. When I arrived here in Lylat when I was 16, we discovered that Alternate Realities exist within the same Universe. Lylat and my home system, Solar, were alternates. We knew very much about Lylat, yet we didn't think it existed. Same with Lylatians, they knew of Solar, but didn't think it existed. The same happened with you, only I and the human race knew of you." Michelson explained.

"That doesn't tell me exactly how you know of my past adventures and feats." Ratchet added.

Kevin sighed, annoyed at how Ratchet was more concerned of how he knew so much, rather than the impending war, "You know what? You're in a game! Happy? Everyone on Earth has heard of you, Ratchet and Clank. You've fought Drek, Nefarious, Tachyon, Vox, even some geek! The alternate reality effect connected your life with our knowledge. We, by the power of whatever the hell is out there, made us think of a game which was exactly your adventures as they happened. I didn't want to say this because it's confusing enough as it is." He then walked around Ratchet and into the elevator. The doors slid shut as Kevin watched Ratchet still facing the other way.

Ratchet stood with his eyes closed, displeased. He wasn't in any game, it's not possible. He turned around and called the elevator back up. With new allies, Ratchet started to feel good about the war. Maybe they had a chance now.

The attack is being made. The start of the war is near and Lylat is about to be in for one hell of a fight against a galaxy wide race with technology that cannot even be fathomed by Lylat, Solar, Polaris, Solana, or Bogon.

Prometheus' plan is in motion.

**To Be Continued…**

OOOOOOOoooohhhhhh boy! Things are heating up! This is going to be epic!

You guys know the drill. Leave a review telling me how I did, and I'll see you all next chapter.

Small update posted on the blog.

Until Next Time!


	8. First Strike

_Oh boy, Chapter 7! Can you believe this? It's already chapter 7 and the war has barely started! This is exactly what I wanted, this is gonna be nice and long with plenty to read. Hope you enjoy!_

_On with the story!_

**First Strike **

A day passed after Ratchet revealed the true plans of Yuthan. After speculation, Corneria had began to prepare a fleet, and it was ready. Today was the day Yuthan would be caught off guard. Today is the day the war starts.

Michelson was standing in the bridge of Great Fox, looking out into space up ahead. His arms were folded and his feet were slightly apart. Fox was sitting in his commanding chair and Peppy and ROB were piloting the ship. As Kevin was looking out, he thought about this fight. For some reason, he felt responsible for it. At first, he thought the whole Yuthan thing was to scare him away, but now it's all true so he sees the few truths about it. Maybe he shouldn't have even accepted Fox's offer to join. If Kevin hadn't joined, then he wouldn't have killed Wolf and Earth wouldn't have suffered such damage. And most of all, his mother wouldn't be gone. This troubled him the most, it always had ever since he first received word of her death. A tear began to form after he began flashing back to before he joined. Michelson just felt at fault with the past decisions he has made.

He sighed slightly which caught Fox's attention.

"What's wrong?" the vulpine asked.

Kevin shook his head and looked at his close friend, "It's nothing, just thinking."

Fox had a worried look on his face, "Thinking about what?"

Kevin sighed, "My mother…"

Fox slowly nodded his head, "I see"

"It's all my fault. All of this is. Everything led up from when I joined."

"No, it's not your fault." The vulpine said.

Kevin turned and sat down in his station, "Actually it is"

Fox shook his head, "Kevin, how is any of this your fault?"

"Well for starters, I should have taken more caution from the first warning I got. Second, I shouldn't have killed Wolf. Third, my planet was ravaged because of my actions and decisions. Fourth…"

"-okay" Fox interrupted, "But that doesn't mean this is your fault. These decisions had mistakes, but look where Earth is now. We are at war, but that's only because Yuthan wants to take over this system."

"Galaxy" Kevin corrected, "They want the entire galaxy." he paused, "Fox, everything leads up to the day I joined. I even think that if I hadn't joined, none of this would be happening."

Ratchet then came into the bridge.

The two looked at the Lombax, and then back at each other.

"Kevin, none of this is your fault. I get that you were warned, but you had no control over it." The vulpine said.

The human shook his head, "You don't get it. I killed my mother! Because of all my choices, she was put in danger! I lost her because of my choices. I know you lost your parents, but it wasn't because of what you did. I did something and can clearly see why she was killed!"

Fox was silent. Ratchet, whom was next to Peppy, looked at the old hare.

"He's been through a lot." Peppy whispered.

Ratchet looked up at where the two were, "Like what?"

Peppy shook his head, "He lost an entire squad of 100 troops, he lost his mother, Yuthan wants his head, and his planet was ravaged after he tried killing Wolf O'Donnell. What's worse is that this all happened when he was younger."

Kevin continued speaking after he sighed, "I swear, it's like life loves toying with me. I chose to join you cause I felt good from it. I chose to keep those guards alive back on Earth because I felt something was needed from them, and what do you know?- Krystal nearly gets killed and they save her."

Fox smiled slightly, "Okay, but they saved her. And you've done so much good that you simply think it's your fault. I understand you still grieve over the loss of your mother, but none of this is because of you. Yuthan would still be attacking because if you didn't kill Wolf, then I would have."

Kevin stayed silent. Ratchet the came up the steps and sat down next to the human.

"Decisions clogging your mind?" the Lombax asked.

Kevin, whom was leaning forward with his arms supporting him on his knees, slowly nodded.

The Lombax nodded back, "I know your feeling. You know about me, I guess, so you should know exactly how I feel."

Kevin looked over at him, "So close to finding your race. On two occasions, and you make the right choices; leave them. How do you know? How did you know that going against it would be for the better?"

Ratchet sighed and shrugged, "Well the first one I knew Tachyon wouldn't leave Polaris alone if I had take up his offer. And the second was the entire Clock collapsing right in front of me."

Kevin shrugged, "Huh, you know I'm kind of surprised Earth didn't get any time anomalies." he sat back up, "I just need to stop thinking about it."

Fox nodded, "There you go, just don't think so negative of yourself. You're a great person, not a monster."

The comm line started to blare and a logo of the Cornerian Defense Force Logo appeared on screen. It then faded to a black bear uniformed and with a captains cap.

"Star Fox, this is captain Rogers of C.D.F.S McCloud. Looks like we're with you." The ursine said.

Fox nodded, "Good to have you part of the attack. I presume the ship is under good condition?"

The ursine chuckled, "It's an honor to be captain of a ship named after your father. Even more so with it's Dreadnaught II class."

Fox smiled, "It is my understanding that we have three Dreadnaught II ships accompanying us, yes?"

Suddenly, two more feeds appeared next to Captain Rogers. One was a younger looking wolf, and the other was a green avian.

"Captain Jones of the C.D.F.S Pepper reporting." The lupine spoke.

"Captain Harrison of the C.D.F.S Galactic reporting." The avian said.

Kevin stood up and whispered over at Ratchet, "Dreadnaught II is our best ship class. We may not even have to head onto the surface."

He then looked at the feed, "Gentlemen, we are going to attack a once thought non existent enemy. I have absolutely no knowledge of their advances or of their technology. We are going with our gut and hoping three of our best ships can take out this small base."

Fox spoke up, "Kevin and Falco are to lead down a small squad to bombard the area. Once they have finished their attack run, rain hell on the base with everything you've got."

Falco, Slippy, Rose, and Krystal then walked into the room. They lined up beside Fox, Kevin, and Ratchet and faced towards the holo screen.

Fox continued, "Get your pilots ready for takeoff. We'll arrive at Aquas in no time at all."

The screen the cut away and Fox looked over at Kevin and Falco, "I'd suggest you two get down to your Arwings."

The two nodded and exited the room. Ratchet, with the lack of his ship, Aphelion, and robot companion Clank, decided to follow after the two. The rest of the Lombaxs were on the surface, undergoing checks and providing as much info for new research on new weapons and technologies.

Kevin spoke up, "I can't believe Pepper actually authorized this attack."

Falco chuckled, "I hear ya. He's so strict on not attacking with the defense force. I get it's called 'the defense force', but how does he plan on solving wars and issues if they come at him. It's the whole reason why we were involved in the Lylat Wars."

MIchelson nodded, "But hey, at least he's trying something different. And this time, we can get leverage against the Yuthans."

Ratchet then spoke up, "Wait up"

Kevin looked back and saw the Lombax walk up to the duo. He was wearing his Trillium armor without his helmet.

"Look, I'm sorry if i snapped back at the General's office." the Lombax apologized.

Kevin was caught a bit off guard, "You're sorry? I'm the one that snapped and told you the truth."

Falco cut in, "You told him about A.R.T?"

Kevin nodded, "Yes I did, but only because he wanted a reason as to why I knew so much about him."

"Is he a game too?"

"Yes"

Ratchet chuckled, "I still have a hard time believing it."

Kevin shrugged, "Well, it's true. But just to make things more clear for you and so you can believe entirely, you and Talwyn make a great couple."

Falco and Kevin then resumed their walk to the Arwing bay. Ratchet close in tow.

When the three reached the bay, Kevin and Falco jumped up into their Arwings, while Ratchet stayed back and watched. He was a glad to see that the Lylatians were advanced with plasma weaponry and shielding, but he was also a bit displeased with how bland they were. He had a large cannon that could shoot missiles, bullets, lasers, beams, and mini bombs, while the most they had was powerful pistols that fired plasma. Sure, the Lylatians were about the same level as everyone else in his home galactic neighborhood, but his weapons seemed much more powerful and exotic.

The Arwings then shot out of the bay and out into space. Ratchet watched as they traveled at incredible speeds, speeds that Aphelion could barely imagine. There were advantages and disadvantages here and there, but regardless about this war they were about to officially start.

_Ten Minutes later…_

"Squads Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, and Delta, you are under mine and Lombardis command until we return to the fleet. OUr orders and objective is beyond simple. Fly down and lay hell onto the base. Falco and I will pass by first, the Alpha will follow, then Bravo, and so on." Kevin said over comms.

Falco chimed in, "There will be ground forces firing on us. Try to stay course and finish the attack run. It's a small base, so you won't be over it for very long."

The large group of 50 ships entered the blue planet's atmosphere. As soon as they were below cloud cover, they found the island out in the distance. They pulled up and started to head straight for it. Along the way, the squads got into their positions. Falco and Kevin were in the front, with their Ultra Laser Systems functional and Smart Bombs ready, followed the squads according to their name.

They neared the island quickly and with haste. When they were a mile out, they all readied themselves. After a second passed, they were over their target. Falco and Kevin let out a barrage of laser fire along with several Smart Bombs. When they flew over, Kevin looked back and saw Alpha squad do the same, the Bravo, then Charlie, then Delta. Kevin U-turned and stopped about a mile away next to Flaco. They were high above the sea and watched the explosions that emitted from the base. They had no idea Corneria was coming.

"Great job everyone!" Kevin said, "That was some of the finest explosions I've ever seen."

Everyone chuckled a bit. However it was cut short when Kevin spotted several enemy fighters take off and fly towards the group. At the same time, Kevin saw the four Dreadnaught II ships hover down and break cloud cover. They opened fire on the base and the enemy fighters opened fire on Kevin and Falco's squads.

"We got company!" Falco said as he flew off and dodged the laser fire.

"All squads, weapons free. Take out those Yuthan ships." Kevin added.

He boosted forward and towards one of the Yuthan ships. As he was, he fired, but just like the ones he had fought before, barely did any damage to him.

"These things take a lot more hits to take down. Keep hitting them and they'll spiral out and crash."

Alpha leader came over the comm feed on the HUD, "So we can't destroy these?"

Kevin shook his head, "We can, but it's a crap load of shots to do it. These things are armored down to their teeth with some sort of hull and shield that make ours look like wimps."

Kevin, who was tailing one of the Yuthan ships, began to fire. He hit it several times, but was caught off guard when the enemy performed a seemingly impossible maneuver. The Yuthan ship backflipped, stopped, fired once on Kevin, and then boosted forward after him. On top of that, he began to fire seeking lasers. They curved and followed after Kevin, though they were somewhat slow.

"Hold up" he said, "Watch it, their lasers are homing!"

He was hit once by one of the beams the enemy fired, and somehow evaded the second. However, that single laser brought his quad over shields down from 400% to a staggering 120%.

"Dear god, I'm hit and my shield went down to 120%!" He said in shock. "Do not let them hit you!" He knew that the Cornerian Defense Force Fleet's ships weren't equipped with Quad overshields, rather than a small double over shield.

Falco cut in, "Holy crap these things are powerful!"

Kevin then attempted to pull the same maneuver. He stopped looped, but mid loop, he stopped in mid air and waited for the ship to pass. He then flipped backward and boosted forward. The Arwing handled it like a charm, but it wasn't as fluent and flawless as the Yuthan ship.

"Take this" Michelson said as he opened fire on the easy target. He hit it so many times that it began to spiral out of control. When it did that, Kevin let it be until it hit the water. When it did, he came back around and destroyed the downed fighter.

"One down!" He said, "Three more to go."

Delta leader came over the feed, "Another down."

The Charile, "Got one"

Then Falco, "Hahaaa, got one!"

The one of the charlie squad members came onto the feed with a worried look, "The last one's chasing me. I can't shake him and my hulls down to 60%."

Kevin was shocked, "Pilot, eject now. I'll head down and get you from the water."

The pilot nodded and flew out of the Cornerian Fighter. Kevin looked around and found one spiraling down to the water, then he found the pilot falling with a parachute above him. Kevin flew towards the Yuthan pilot, who was heading for the pilot.

"Oh no" Kevin said as he saw the Yuthan flying.

He opened fire on the ship and knocked it off course. The ship nearly hit the pilot.

"Son of a bitch!" The pilot yelled over the comms.

Kevin chuckled slightly, "Sorry"

He looked back and found three other Cornerian FIghters end the Yuthan ship. He then looked over and found the four Dreadnaught II ships still firing down at the base.

"Dear god they're still laying hell on the base."

Falco chuckled, "Get the Yuthans attention that we're no push over."

Kevin nodded once with a slight smile, "Yeah" he paused, "Okay squads, let's head back and regroup with the ships. Head back to your assigned ships and await further orders."

The 50 ships all headed back to the Class II ships.

Fox came over the feed, "All ships cease fire on the base. Squads are returning from attack." The large ships stopped firing and the squads all landed back into their assigned ship bays.

The attack wasn't so bad. But, Kevin started to see something bad arise just from attacking this base. 50 fighters, two of which being highly modified, had a difficult time taking down four Yuthan ships. This worried Kevin because everyone fought very well and with all their skill.

As he got out of his Arwing, Rose walked into the ship bay and greeted the two.

"Good job guys" She said, "The base is pretty much gone now. You guys took so long that we just continued to hit the base hard, now its nothing but ash and rubble."

Kevin smile "Wow, that's great. At least we know their buildings aren't so tough. If we end up attacking their homeworld, it'll be easy to hit them exactly where it hurts."

The three then headed back up to the bridge. Fox, Krystal, Slippy, and Ratchet were waiting. When they walked in, Fox greeted them.

"Good news" He said, "We got intel."

Falco was confused, "Okay? From where?"

Kevin nodded in agreement, "Yeah, where? You turned the base to nothing but rubble and ash."

Ratchet then stepped forward, he was wearing his Trillium armor with his helmet active. He took it off, revealing some cuts on his face.

"That would be me. I went down just before they opened fire and was able to sneak in and steal some intelligence. But my fight out wasn't easy."

Kevin nodded, "I can see that."

Fox continued, "But, we also have some bad news."

It grew quiet. Ratchet pulled out his Dual Vipers, N90 Hurricane, and Annihilator. The weapons were placed on the floor.

"You see these guns? They're all incredibly powerful." Ratchet said, "This one" he pointed to the Vipers, "they fire a rapid stream of plasma energy." he then pointed to the Hurricane, "This one shoots larger and faster beams of energy." he then pointed to the Annihilator, "This one shoots homing missiles."

Kevin was nodding, "Yes, they're ridiculously advanced. What's the bad news in that?"

Ratchet sighed, "They hardly fazed the Yuthans."

_To Be Continued…_

Sorry for a slightly short chapter guys. I've been sick and recently suffered another injury, resulting in a slightly collapsed lung. Yeah, pretty bad.

Anyway

Michelson is starting to worry about this war. He knows its his fault, but he doesn't know that it's all just for him. Prometheus will not stop until he gets Kevin.

See you next time!

Chapter 8 should be up next Saturday


	9. A New Approach

To clear some small mishaps on my part. I said that Ratchet's tech is at the same level, but in a different form. I meant to replace that and say Ratchet's tech is just completely more advanced than Lylat's. Also, Yuthan is on the verge of Galactic domination, rather than Universal. They want to take Milky Way (lylat and Solar systems) and also Polaris and the other Galaxies. However, Yuthan isn't big enough to spread _that _far out, nor control the entire Universe. They're big, but not that big.

On with the story! 

**A New Approach**

"Commander!" Prometheus yelled. His voice echoed through the pitch black dimension he was in. After his echoed faded, the white portal appeared below where he was. A red path illuminated and the space scenery appeared.

The same man that had passed on news that the Aquas base had taken down two fighters entered the dimension and walked to the steps. He bowed and then headed up towards where Prometheus was.

"Commander, why have I sensed despair?" he asked, "I sensed death of our kind." he turned around and faced the commander, "It is not only I sensed it, but that it was far. Explain yourself."

The commander, whom was wearing a simple uniform, spoke softly, "Um, the human, Michelson, led an attack on the base… sir."

Prometheus shot up from his chair, "WHAT!?" he yelled, "I was able to sense this attack! I put pieces together and found out that Kevin was to attack! How in the hell was he successful?!"

The commander swallowed nervously. Sweat was running down his face. The commander was a pure Yuthan and had the body of one. Yuthans were lizard-like creatures. They had scales that ran down their entire body, and eyes that seemed normal like a human's. Their physique also resembled a human, but the skin of a lizard.

"Sir, we had no idea when they were to attack." The commander said.

The avian like leader sighed, "But you should have detected them moving in. As well as have the base on HIGH ALERT!" Prometheus was becoming more and more angered. "Yuthan is now at war with this new have lost two allies and are in this by ourselves! I expect no failures!"

The commander nodded, "Yes sir"

Prometheus looked around the dimension and sighed, "Have a new, but larger, force move to this system. I will have this under my control." He sighed, he had this one decision on his mind for some time. However, he didn't really consider it until now. His plan was suicide in a way.

The Yuthan race had two special powers. One was the ability to shapeshift, but by taking a body. Prometheus, as well as a small group of other Yuthans had this power. They only could shift once, however Prometheus was gifted with a double chance. Once a Yuthan takes a body, they are damned to it forever. Yuthan's also had a form of Telepathy. This was more rare than the shifting as only ten Yuthans, The Oracles, had this ability. They sensed time and sensed brain activity, but at a ridiculously high power. Prometheus is the only Yuthan that has the brain activity ability besides the Oracles. With this power, he took matter into his own hands. Using it to reach out to Kevin's mind, but failing once already for reasons unknown to him.

However, he decided to give it one more try before he executed his plan. Prometheus sat down in his throne of light. He closed his eyes. He reached out to Lylat and snuck around. Prometheus was looking for Michelson once more. He had found his mind and entered it, the human was asleep.

"Michelson" He said, the human jerked and found the leader standing behind him.

"You! Who are you?!" The human dashed for the leader, but he faded away and dodged the futile attack thrown by Kevin.

Prometheus chuckled, "You already know who I am." he paused, "Interesting you don't know already. I am the leader of Yuthan. I have told you this once already."

The human looked around him aimlessly, "Funny, I don't remember."

Prometheus sighed, "Well, it doesn't matter." he reappeared in front of Kevin, "your demise is close. Your death will come to you and by the hands of me. You may have this temporal immunity, but you cannot keep yourself from your destined death." Trying to confuse Kevin, he tried to scan his mind. Confusing the human would allow Prometheus to slip into his mind.

Kevin turned and found the leader, he jumped back and whispered under his breath, "Temporal immunity?"

Prometheus chuckled, "Yes, you cannot be sensed for future events. We cannot see you."

Kevin's eyes grew wide, "That's what that assassin meant."

Prometheus smiled, "Oh, you remember that? Good, you know that we are on to you and will kill you. We may not see you, but we can still find you." he walked up to the human after realizing that he could not enter his thoughts and memory, "Too bad you won't remember this."

He then grabbed the humans head. Electricity surged through his hands and into Kevin. He was erasing the memory of Kevin seeing Prometheus in the subconscious. Prometheus smiled at the pain Kevin was being inflicted with. Although his pain was not real, he found joy in it nonetheless. As Kevin awoke, Prometheus was shot back to his own conscious. He gasped for air as his eyes shot open.

This was the second time Prometheus attempted to gather information directly from Kevin's mind. Even with his talk of who Kevin was and his ability, Prometheus was blocked from his mind. Something was doing for the human, but he didn't know what. Little did he know that it was the vixen, Krystal, a being with mental abilities as well.

Prometheus was a very strong, and very serious Yuthan. He had little to no fear of anything, in fact he had no fear of going to Lylat. His suicide part of his plan was to go there himself, however he didn't fear it, nor see it as suicide, instead he saw it as an opportunity.

He sighed after he caught his breath, "No matter" he wiped his forehead from sweat, "I don't need this information. These creatures cannot even fathom our power." he then walked down the steps and through the white portal. The two highly armored and armed guards snapped to attention and waited for their leader to pass. Prometheus walked through the enormous halls until he reached the main entrance. He exited his humble abode and found the thriving capital city of Osniri. He saw lights flying in lines; they were the civilians, and the buildings were illuminated. The city was truly a magnificent sight. To put it into perspective, the capital city of Osniri was ten times the size of Corneria City. This size was major buildings extending out, and then it started to decrease to smaller ones. It was night and Prometheus was taking in the fresh air of Cotera. He found two guards standing at the bottom of the steps leading into the building.

"You two" he said, the two quickly looked up, "Call my ship."

In a matter of seconds, Prometheus' personal craft landed in the courtyard in front of his complex. He entered the craft and flew to the main military base. As the base came into view, he saw that several, about 4, of their highest class ships were already ready to launch. He also saw numerous lines of troops waiting to enter the absolutely enormous ships. He flew down and landed near the front of where the lined men were. He exited his ship and found the commander speaking to the enormous force that was about to be sent to Lylat.

Prometheus walked up and took over from the commander.

"Our leader, Prometheus" the commander said before handing over the mic to him.

"My fellow Yuthans. Our time is coming. We are now the only allied force left fighting this war. You are being sent to attack one of their planetary territories. After scanning it, we determined it will be perfect as a starting point to quickly weaken their forces." Prometheus yelled. The mic projected his voice so that the numerous lines of troops could hear. "I wish you no luck as you are fighting an enemy with technology they can only dream of. Luck is not needed, only your skill." He paused, "Do not fail me" he paused once more, "I will accompany you on this mission. I will lead you from the planet we take. Intel suggests the planets name is Macbeth, and we will start there to take over this system, and then, their galaxy."

The troops yelled their chant simultaneously, "For COTERA!"

Prometheus gave a small nod, "For Yuthan"

The lines of troops then turned around simultaneously and began to march towards the immense ships. They were beyond large. A Dreadnaught II ship of Lylat was big, but the Yuthans ships were four times as large; capable of holding a large army in each as well as ships, transports, crew, and weapons no one can fathom.

Prometheus watched as his army moved. He was astonished at the size, but did not show it. He kept a straight face and watched them move into the ships. He then smiled slightly as the ships began to take off into the sky. The commander walked over to him.

"Sir, is going with them such a good idea? What if the Lylatians are able to take out the force? What if you are killed?" The commander said with worry in his voice.

Prometheus spoke few words and with an emotionless face, "We will not fail, I have no doubt we will be quick with this Lylat. But, have the rest of the army on stand-by. Send them as soon as I give word to do so."

With that, he took off and flew after the four immense carrier ships. His plan was coming to fruition.

Lylat was no where near equipped to face an enemy that size. This was only a slightly larger force with so much more in reserve. The Defense Force and all of Lylat were in for a war that would never be forgotten.

_To be continued…_

SURPRISE! You get another chapter! Go on! Click next and check out what's happening!


	10. Devastation

BIG SURPRISE! TWO CHAPTERS COMPLETE! I figured you guys deserved a two chapter post. You guys have stuck with me ever since Book 1, and even if you haven't and just recently arrived, you have been supporting me! Two chapters sounds good to me, maybe, depending on my idea flow, I can get three chapters in a day. I hope you enjoy! 

On with the story…

**Devastation**

_Hours after Prometheus arrived at Macbeth…_

Pepper was sitting at his desk with the team standing in front of him.

"I'm afraid we have some bad news." He paused, "We just received word that the Macbeth has been taken. The Yuthans attacked and took the planet within hours. Intel says they plan on taking every other planet."

The team was wide eyed.

"Let us go after them then" Kevin suggested.

Falco added in, "Yeah, we can stop them sir. With some help we can get rid of these Yuthans just like we did their base."

Pepper shook his head, "We cannot"

Fox spoke up, "Why not?"

Pepper sighed, "Their forces are much too large. They are much larger than we anticipated. About four cruisers were sent, troops on Macbeth described them as beasts of ships ten times bigger than our Dreadnaught II class ships."

Kevin's heart sank. A ship ten times bigger than a Dreadnaught II is impossible; the resources and men needed to pilot just doesn't add up.

"Ten times, sir?" he questioned.

Pepper nodded slowly, "Yes" he paused, "And we also received word, that they are quickly nearing Corneria." He lowered his head, "They're almost complete with their plans…"

Kevin swallowed deeply. Krystal let out a slight gasp, as did Slippy. Fox and Falco were silent.

"Sir" Kevin said, "I'm sure we can hold them back for a certain amount of time. If we go out, we can hold the Yuthans back from advancing while the technology is worked on."

Pepper shook his head, "It's no use, at the rate they're advancing, there's no possible way we can finish development and have the gear produced."

Fox cut in, "We can do it, general. We will hold the Yuthans back as much as possible. While we do that, you can have the entire Defense Force line up and defend when the Yuthans arrive."

-oOo-

As soon as Fox spoke, an Oracle of Cotera awakened. He looked to his compatriots, who had heard the same as he did.

The eldest spoke, "Contact Prometheus immediately." he said, "His plan is about to complete itself."

The younger Oracle did what he was told.

The lone female spoke, "It appears the human doesn't know of his immunity."

The eldest spoke, "No, he does know, but he doesn't see it for planning attacks. This serves for the greater good of our kind. If he discovered his ability, then Yuthan would surely fall to these primitive enemies."

-oOo-

Pepper sighed and spoke after silence passed, "Fine, you can engage. But please, retreat if you cannot fight them. I understand your will to protect us, but please, do not push yourselves to fight." Pepper continued, "Intel suggests that the Yuthans have been using a mineral by the name of Siofarium. It's unlike anything we've ever heard of, but we can probably find a way to get past it. I mean, you've already heard what Ratchet said, his weapons hardly phazed the Yuthans."

Kevin nodded, "Yes sir"

Ratchet walked in with two other Lombaxs at his sides, "We're sorry we're late."

Pepper dismissed it, "That is fine, however I'll have to give you the short and straight forward situation."

Ratchet nodded, "Shoot"

Pepper spoke, "The Yuthans already have one planet of ours. They're moving quickly and forcefully to Corneria." he paused, "Now, it is my understanding that your race are excellent pilots, mechanics, and inventors. I have granted access to your kind Cornerian Defense Force fighters. These ones have been upgraded with the tech we have now. After we received word of the Yuthan's haste, we ceased development and kept what we already had, which isn't much."

One of the other Lombaxs, Neal, spoke, "So what's the plan?"

Fox chimed in, "We're going to hold them off as much as we can."

Dylan, the younger Lombax, disagreed, "That's suicide"

Falco cut in, "If we do that, then Corneria has a better shot at withstanding their troops."

Pepper then received a code red message. He opened it up and allowed everyone to read it, as the subject was "Assault Status". The message read something that they had hoped it didn't say.

_General Pepper, immediate action is requested. The Yuthan Forces have sent a portion of their forces to spread further. They are now currently attacking Titania._

Pepper sighed, "Ratchet" he said, "I hope the Lombaxs are quick learners. You are to move out immediately."

Everyone nodded and left the room in a hurry. As they were running, Ratchet opened an open local channel with the other Lombaxs.

"All Lombaxs get to the Cornerian Defense Force Base immediately. We're moving out now."

The team and Lombaxs reached the base in no time. Once they arrived, Star Fox headed for their own hangar. This hangar had backups that were to be used in case of an immediate launch, which was now. Ratchet met up with the numerous other Lombaxs and were led to their ships. Kevin jumped up into his Arwing. He grabbed the edge and swung himself up. He quickly started all the systems as soon as he landed and sat down.. Once it was up and running, he slowly hovered out of the hangar and shot off into the air. He followed after Fox, with the other closely in tow.

Once they reached outer atmosphere, Fox opened a platoon wide channel with the team and Lombaxs. Kevin looked around and saw the numerous CDF Fighters hovering.

Fox spoke, "Listen up everyone. We're moving to the outer planet of Titania. According to intel, we should expect a large welcome party. So be ready to fight and get a grip of your fighter controls."

Ratchet spoke up, "These aren't much different from ships where we're from. We should be fine." The Lombax lined up beside Kevin, with Neal and Dylan nearby. "Also, I'd like to formally introduce my two top notch Lombaxs. Neal and Dylan. Neal specializes as a field medic and Dylan is an excellent sniper."

Kevin chuckled, "Just like me"

Fox nodded, "Good, but I don't think we'll need to head down to the surface. We may not even fight for long before we retreat."

Neal spoke up, "We can fight, don't worry."

Slippy then spoke up, "Okay guys, we need to get to the planet now. Input the coordinates 9-0-1-2."

Fox continued, "On my mark, accelerate." he paused, "3…2…"

Kevin gripped his controls. He felt something bad was going to happen. He even felt weird, almost nervous to the point of throwing up. But he held the urge back and took deep breaths.

"1… Accelerate!"

Everyone then instantly burst forward. Kevin watched as the the stars in the distance elongated and then returned to normal. Once they were normal, a red planet appeared in front of him. The ships were moving at incredible speeds and were already in atmosphere. Kevin looked around and saw everyone, ready to fight. He liked what he saw, well over a hundred fighters, ready to lay waste on the large Yuthan forces.

"Everyone get ready!" Fox said as he saw a squad of fighters moving in on them. In the distance, they saw the CDF base that the Yuthans had taken.

Kevin opened fire on the ships. He hit several as they ripped through the CDF forces. Sensing a form of danger, Kevin pushed down and out of the stream. He neared the ground quickly and pulled up. As he did, he saw three enemy ships begin to chase him. He looked back ahead and saw that a canyon was approaching. He got an idea, a good one too. His chain memory instantly went back and he remembered something similar to this. He used it to his advantage.

"Come and get me, bitches"

He flew right into the tight canyon and flew along the opening. He twisted and turned. His attention was instantaneous and his reflexes were spot on. He turned left and right, barrel rolled through an overhang, and flew close near the bottom. He saw a much larger overhang nearing. He looked back and saw the ships beginning to open fire. Since he couldn't really loop around,he opened fire at the large natural arch and accelerated. The rocks began to fall. Kevin flew right under it and narrowly avoided being hit. He looked back and saw a series of explosions. Sighing in relief he looked back ahead of him and flew out of the canyon. But, as he did, he was met with a horrifying sight.

Just ahead of him were three incredibly large ships. Below them was the CDF base that the Yuthans had taken. Countless dots were flying around over the base, and he knew that there was no possible way that they were winning.

"Dear god…" He said in aw.

Suddenly, a pain in his head caused him to nearly lose control. He quickly regained and heard a voice.

"Michelson, I am here" the voice said.

Kevin shook his head and continued flying towards the base. The pain faded and a female voice appeared.

"Kevin, keep him out! Do you hear me? Keep… him… out!"

Krystal then came over the comms, "Kevin, don't listen to the voice. It's the leader, he's here!"

Kevin was shocked. He nearly crashed into an enemy ship, but narrowly evaded it. He pulled up and began flying towards the immense cruisers.

Fox spoke up, "The leaders what?"

As Kevin was flying up, he was hit once. He was losing his attention at the thought of Prometheus being inside the base.

Krystal spoke again, "He's here!"

Kevin pulled back and headed down towards the fight. He saw numerous troops on the ground firing up and occasionally saw some CDF fighters zoom past. He found a Yuthan fighter and opened fire on it. With incredible accuracy, he was able to knock it out of the sky and cause it crash into one of the buildings below.

The voice was heard once more. Prometheus, held up inside the underground command center of the base, taunted him.

"Fighting my forces? How cute. Even when you know your failure is imminent, you just can't face the fact that you should try. Really you should give up now and save your lives." He paused, and Kevin ignored him, "But isn't it nice? A force so strong that any war we fight is guaranteed a victory. It does wonders for us. We control most of our galaxy and now will soon control yours. Your primitive tech can't even fathom what we use." Prometheus took a deep breath, "I wonder what I'll do when I take your capital planet. Come to think of it, you don't look like those around here. I wonder if this is even your home and you just protect for no greater cause."

Kevin snapped, "Enough!" He yelled, he knew Prometheus was beginning to make connections with Kevin's true home. Earth would never stand a chance, it'd fall within minutes of the attack. But, Kevin evaded the topic "I wouldn't be talking, you fucking monster. You can't tell what I'll do next! That doesn't seem so powerful to me, especially when I can fight!"

Prometheus was shocked, but of course faked the feeling. His plan was nearly complete.

"How?" he pretended to sound surprised, but hid the falsity well.

Kevin laughed, "Just shut the fuck up and watch me. You can't see my actions, I'm practically invisible to a your entire race. You take no chances, you only go with what's good in the future. To me, that's a coward!"

Fox smiled, "Nice"

Falco gave a thumbs up.

Prometheus ceased speaking and left Kevin, now infuriated. Kevin barrel rolled around and found the main building that Prometheus could have been held up in. He opened a private comm channel with Ratchet and thought of a new plan.

"Ratchet" He said, "I need you to come with me."

Ratchet looked confused, "Why?"

Kevin smiled, "We're going down and taking out Prometheus right now. I'm done and do not want to fight another god forsaken war. I am tired of fighting and I will not lose to a monster like this thing." he paused, "If Corneria is taken, he'll surely go after my true home. I can't let that happen, not after it has suffered from so much."

Ratchet attempted to speak, but was cut off, "I can't do it alone. You're the only one with weapons that can help me the most." Kevin paused, "Please…"

Ratchet sighed and nodded with understanding, "I'll head down. Someone has to get rid of this psycho anyway."

Kevin activated the cloaking device on the Arwing. Since everyone was zooming to and fro, they would have a hard time seeing the blur that was Kevin's Arwing.

"Activate the cloaking and land at the rear of the biggest building."

Ratchet did so. Kevin landed behind the building and jumped down. When he landed, the armor beamed onto him. RIght after it beamed, he activated the cloak. He activated the eyepiece and looked around, quickly finding Ratchet landing.

"I'm cloaked right now. You'll need to use stealth." Kevin said.

He knew the dangers of doing what he was doing. He tried this once before, and it almost cost him his life, but thankfully only cost him a leg and hand. However, now he was about to fight someone with even more skill and even more power.

Ratchet jumped down and found the blur of Kevin.

"See you" He said.

Kevin looked up at the fight above. Stray laser fire landed nearby and exploded, knocking the two of their feet. After they got back up to their feet Kevin yelled.

"Get to the door and blast it open."

Ratchet nodded, activated the Trillium armor, and pulled out his Annihilator. The two ran for the door, as they were running, Ratchet opened fire and blew the door off it's hinges. Kevin darted in with Ratchet behind, now with his Shock Cannon. Michelson had his pistol in hand with his knife under it.

Kevin burst through one door and found several Yuthan troops on the other side. As soon as he came in, he opened fire. He hit one several times, jumped up, and landed a stab to the head. He jerked the knife out and slashed at the nearby guard. He slashed up, down, and then stabbed at the face. He was somewhat surprised, the knife was affecting them well, yet the lasers didn't do much. But the rage inside of him kept him from thinking any more of it.

Ratchet whom was firing the charged beam of the Shock Blaster, merely knocked down the other guards. Once they were down, even after the devastating blast from the Shock Cannon, Kevin ran over and started to slash at them, killing them rather quickly. He jumped and stabbed each one, twisting the blade that had entered their chest cavities.

Ratchet watched the blur move quickly and efficiently.

Kevin was in a rage. He wasn't about to let this race take over his home, nor was he going to let some cocky leader command them.

The human jumped on top of the last guard and deactivated the cloak.

"WHERE IS HE?!" He yelled. Ratchet quickly got to his side and pointed the large barrel of the Shock Cannon to the Yuthan.

The Yuthan didn't speak.

Kevin began to punch the being. He then grabbed the masked head and began to literally tear the helmet apart. Using the knife, he stabbed at the edges of the being's neck and smashed the locks keeping it in place. He removed the mask and saw the lizard face of the Yuthan.

"WHERE THE FUCK IS HE?!"

The Yuthan looked at Kevin with an emotionless face. Fear ran through the guard, but he refused to show it to the human.

Kevin then put the blade at the Yuthans neck and slowly started to move it sideways

"TELL ME NOW!"

The Yuthan then spoke, "He's in sublevel 2. The command wing."

Prometheus had entered the guards mind and commanded him to provide Kevin with the info. His plan was close, and his excitement grew.

Kevin looked at the reptile like creature. He then jerked his blade sideways, slitting the throat of the Yuthan. 

Ratchet looked away.

Kevin got up, calming himself slightly as he did so. He looked up and found a camera. He walked up to the base of it, stared it down and spoke.

"Did you see that? Prometheus? Did you see what I just did to your all powerful Yuthan race?" He paused, "You… will… fucking… die. This war ends today."

Prometheus, whom was standing in the center of the command center, watched the feed with his arms crossed, "Whether it be you, or me."

Michelson then grabbed his pistol and shot the camera. The human looked at the Lombax, "Let's go"

The two entered an elevator and took it to sublevel 2. Kevin sighed and started to feel even more sick. He felt like puking right then and there, but like before, he fought the feeling.

"I hope your ready." Kevin finally said.

Ratchet nodded, "Yeah" he lied, his heart was racing, "Talon wasn't as determined as Prometheus." He paused, "But there's no way he can survive against both of us."

The doors slid open and revealed an empty hallway. It was rather wide with rooms on either side. At the other end was the room to get into the command center. The two walked towards it. However, Ratchet began to circle and walk, looking at the empty rooms, while Kevin slightly went ahead. As soon as Kevin entered the room that connected to the command center, a metal blast proof door snapped closed.

Kevin looked back and slammed his fist on the door, "Shit!"

Ratchet bumped into it and jumped back.

"Blast it!" Kevin said. He then jumped behind a table that was in the room and hid behind it for cover.

Ratchet ran back and pulled out his Annihilator. He fired five rockets at the door, but to no avail. The door, walls, and metallic shielding stood it's place. Kevin got out from his cover and saw the door still in place. He walked over to it and looked it over.

The intercom then suddenly sounded.

"Oh good" the voice said, "my plan has completed itself."

Kevin looked at the door that went into the command center. It opened, and revealed a large room with computers, monitors, and a single being standing with its back against the opening.

Kevin slowly walked into the room. He looked around and found Ratchet, one level higher behind a glass window. He was banging on it and was even firing at it, but it wouldn't break.

The being suddenly laughed, "I cannot believe this is happening. My plan to finally kill you and take over this pitiful system has now come to fruition." He turned around, "And I still can't believe that we are unable to predict your moves. Such a young boy, yet we can't see you." He closed his eyes, scanning over Kevin with his telepathic ability and thought to himself, "The boy is too strong. I must fight him."

He continued speaking, "I never thought you would make it this far. I'm really surprised you made it past the ships."

Kevin spoke, "I plan on ending this war now. I will not fight another second."

Prometheus smiled, "Oh don't worry. You won't fight, but the war won't end either."

The human nodded, "Right, I'm supposedly going to die." he said sarcastically.

Prometheus shook his head, "No… that 's not my plan at all. It's far more grand."

He then dashed forwards at the human. The Yuthan was wearing exotic armor with blades at the end of his hands. He slashed at the human, but the boy was quick. Kevin dodged each slash and ended with a jump back. As he did, he launched his staff up into the air and grabbed it. He extended it and began to dash for Prometheus.

"I'm done with your bullshit!" He yelled as he began to fight.

Kevin spun around and swung at Prometheus. The Yuthan dodged it and countered it. The Yuthan swung from the right, but Kevin deflected it. Prometheus came back around, and Kevin deflected it as well. Kevin the spun the staff above him and forcefully brought it down. The Yuthan nearly fell off balance but caught himself. He jumped back and focused. He jumped back forward, this time with energy in his step. Prometheus swung at Kevin with incredible speed, but Kevin narrowly jumped back, avoiding the sharp blades. Kevin was growing weak and tired, while Prometheus wasn't. Kevin dashed forward once more, but Prometheus was ready. Grabbing the staff, he pulled it towards him, and then threw it back along with Kevin. The human landed cleanly and sprinted back at the Yuthan leader once more. He activated the flaming ends of the staff and swung from the right. He landed a clean side swipe to Prometheus' face and spin kicked his gut, causing him to tumble back. As Prometheus stumbled, Kevin fired three flame blasts from the staff, each landing on Prometheus and burning him. The Yuthan feel to the ground, but quickly regained by rolling back onto his feet.

"You're good" Prometheus said, "But there's no way you can beat me. You're getting tired." The Yuthan dashed forward. Kevin readied a counter, but Prometheus was prepared and saw it coming. The avian swung up with such great force that he cut right through the humans staff. He spun around with the momentum and brought the blade down back down, landing a clean and deep slash at Kevin's left arm. The human didn't even have time to realize what had happened.

"AAAGGGHHHH!" The human yelled in great pain. Blood gushed out from his arm and pain instantly surged through his body.

Prometheus then grabbed the human by the throat and threw him down to the ground with great force. Kevin coughed vigorously as he tried to get back to his feet. He rolled over and tried to get up, but to no avail, he only found himself slipping in his own blood, falling back onto his chest. He looked up and saw Fox now with Ratchet, as well as Krystal.

"KEVIN!" Fox yelled. However, the human hardly heard it.

Prometheus closed his eyes, scanning the humans body, and re opened them. Kevin was still too strong. The humans will was incredible durable, and if Prometheus execute his plan with it still in tact, he would fail.

He proceeded and kicked the human several times in the gut. Blood was gushing from his right arm and he was crawling away and towards his staff. Kevin thought he was going to die right then and there, but knew he had to continue fighting.

Prometheus walked ahead and kicked the broken weapon away. He knew it was what kevin was going for.

"Your will is so strong" The Yuthan said, "You're bloodied, mangled, crippled, and even close to death, yet you continue!"

Kevin, now blood pouring from his mouth, continued to crawl slowly and in pain. He was determined- he wasn't going to lose. However, fate said otherwise.

Prometheus shook his head and walked towards the weapon.

Kevin saw his chance. He reached back to his side, grabbed his pistol and shakingly brought it up to point it at Prometheus. His hand was shaking violently as he struggled to hold the gun up from his lying position

"Hey… fucker!" Kevin managed to yell. Prometheus turned around, "Pay attention!"

Kevin pulled the trigger. He landed a clean shot to Prometheus, however the Yuthan merely flinched. Kevin fired again, and again, and again, and again. The Yuthan, was now moving towards the human. Kevin shot a quick glance up and found Krystal, Fox, and Ratchet gone. He then looked back at the Yuthan, who had grabbed him.

He grabbed him by the throat and raised him up high. Laughing maniacally he spoke, "I've been waiting for this moment. Ever since I learned of you, I knew what must be done. Not to kill you…" He paused, "but use you!" He scanned Kevin's brain and saw that the will to fight was no longer present.

Kevin futilely squirmed, trying to shake free from the grip of the Yuthan.

"I will take your body! I will use you and you and your skills!" Prometheus yelled, "You will become mine to control!" He yelled, "LONG… LIVE… YUTHAN!"

The Yuthan's body then turned to energy. The yellow light fused into Kevin's body. The human fell to the ground and squirmed in pain. The small fall shot pain through him, but the Yuthan inside was worse.

"NOOO!" He yelled at the top of his lungs as pain and blackness shrouded his body. He felt the loss of control as he slowly slipped into unconsciousness. Kevin fell down and saw the yellow light emit from his body. He slammed his fist down and looked at the door.

Prometheus was heard whispering in his head, "The Yuthans… will win. You have lost."

Kevin closed his eyes, seeing no way to escape and accepting his fate, "I'm… so sorry." He whispered.

Suddenly, the human dropped to the floor, motionless. The yellow light faded away and the human was lying still. Blood was still gushing and moving from under the human. he was lying in his own pool of it.

The doors to the command center then blew open as Ratchet was able to find a way to destroy them. He, along with Krystal and Fox, had used the missile weapons; the Annihilator, Devastator, and the Mini Rocket Cannon.

Fox saw his friend on the floor, "no..." He dropped the large missile firing cannon and ran for the human. Halfway, he stopped at the sight of the pool of blood he was lying in.

The human began to move slightly. He slowly got up to his feet and grabbed his arm in pain. But, with his back turned away from the group, he healed his wound as well as the bruises around his body. An ability he didn't have before.

Fox yelled once more, "I swear to fucking god Kevin!" he began to walk towards the human.

Krystal then dashed forward and tackled Fox, "STOP!" She sensed something that wasn't there before. Something was off and she knew exactly what it was.

The human then turned around slowly and saw the two on the floor. He looked at them with an emotionless face.

Fox and Krystal got up to their feet, but Krystal had her gun out and pointing at the Earthling.

Fox grabbed the gun from her and yelled, "Are you insane?"

Krystal grabbed the gun back from the vulpine and yelled back, "That's not Kevin!"

Fox looked at the human. What the hell was she saying?

"You… are not… Kevin." She said, "What are you"

The human cracked his neck. His eyes were glowing yellow and his pupils were now the shape of an eclipse.

One word came out of his mouth. One word that struck the group with fear, disbelief, and terror,

"Prometheus"

_To Be Continued…_

BOOM!

I thought hard about this one and Im glad to say I made it what I planned it to be.

What do you think? I don't want to say much, so just leave a review and tell me what you thought. I need to hear from you guys about this and especially this.

Super important update on blog… :) ! You might want to read it (too big to put here).


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